Why did Lord Shiva, at the instigation of Brahma, tease Parvati?Why do we not use the champak flower to worship Lord Shiva?In which purana would you learn about a prayer for Lord Vishnu to protect you in all four directions with his sudarshana chakra, koumodaki gada, sounanda hala, and shatana mushala?Why did Sita mata curse fire, the river Phalgu, the ketaki flower and the cow?Which Purana tells us the story of the lake that turned four black swans to white, and why?Why did Draupadi have five husbands?What does it mean to read abridged translations of all nineteen Puranas in one year? This is the book of questions and answers, of those nineteen books, thirty-eight reviews, and the year that went by. Anvita and Anika, sisters, read abridged translations of the nineteen maha-Puranas over the course of a year. In addition to thirty-eight reviews, there are also several anecdotes of their experiences through the year as they read and wrote, and how school, studies, exams, and a maniacal father drove them to ever greater depths of despair. In the book you will find over a hundred stories, factoids, and nuggets from the Puranas. How Parvati became Gouri, stories about Kurukshetra, the punya that accumulates from reading the Puranas, the types of fasts to observe and their benefits, the types of donations one can give, episodes from the Mahabharata, different accounts of how Ganesha was born and how he broke a tusk, and many, many more - as seen from the eyes of two young children!

Retold in simple language, underlining importance of each Purana, with a lucid summary.

Vishnu Puran is believed to be one of the most important Puranas, if not the most valuable ancient record of the faith called Sanatan Dharma. Its stories reveal about the various exploits of Vishnu incarnations. In rendering this holy text into English, the attention has been paid to put only those details that have certain fundamental truths of life. Hence, in this work those details have been deliberately omitted which may appear rather confusing or uninteresting to the reader not having the initiation in the sacred love. The main thrust of this attempt has been to show a clear glimpse of our ancient hermitage.

The Puranas are not merely history books in the accepted sense of the term but they do give a mine of information about the ancient life or the time when our values were taking roots. Since they record not only history and geography, but also the essence of our jurisprudence and subjects of practical value and its relevance, it perhaps never wanes. In order to help the gen-next know and appreciate the span of our achievement, it is essential for it to have a comprehensive version of our Puranas. The language and style of narration have been kept as near to the modern parlance so as to help the reader get the crux of the text. This Skanda Purana is an important to me of the series as it contains varied descriptions of our ancient heritage. Curiously enough, the now widely popular story: the ‘Satyanarayan Katha’ owes its origin to this very Purana. It is hoped our discerning readers would accord a warm welcome to Skanda Purana as they did to the earlier Puranas of the present series. We would welcome any suggestion from our readers to make the present series more relevant and meaningful.

There are eighteen Mahapuranas, great Puranas, and the Siva Purana is one of them. Siva is a vivid retelling of the Siva Purana for today's reader. The book contains all the major legends of Siva, bringing them alive again for a new generation.