The word Purāṇa (पुराण) literally means “ancient or old”. In terms of archaic value Purāṇas are at par with Vedic Saṁhitās (संहिता). Śatapathabrāhmaṇa (शतपथब्राह्मण) even goes to the extent of mentioning that Purāṇas also are Vedas (वेद). Atharvaveda (अथर्ववेद) posits that Purāṇas were created simultaneously with Saṁhitās. Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad (बृहदारण्यकोपनिषद्) states:

just like Vedas, Purāṇas also have emanated from the breathing out of the Almighty Supreme.

Yāska (यास्क), the creator of Nirukta (निरुक्त), has defined Purāṇas as “पुरा नवं भवति” – i.e., “which was new in ancient period”. This also denotes that old traditions continue to remain relevant in modern age also. According to Āchārya Sāyaṇa (आचार्य सायण) (a significant commentator on the Vedas), Purāṇa literature describes the genesis and development of the universe. Some scholars consider Purāṇas as history of the universe.

In Vāyupurāṇa (वायुपुराण) and Kūrmapurāṇa (कूर्मपुराण) five prominent attributes of Purāṇas have been described:

Five main characteristics of Purāṇas are: 1. description of creation of universe, both cosmology and cosmogony; 2. destruction of universe; 3. description of geneologies of sages or deities; 4. description of reigns of various Manus; 5. life history of various significant kings and their genealogies.

Paurāṇika (पौराणिक) literature is encyclopaedic. Traditionally, Purāṇas contain vast and wide range of topics such as myths, legends and other traditional lores. Purāṇas are also considered to be a sort of Itihāsa or Itivṛtta (इतिवृत्त) by some scholars, as these texts discuss diverse subjects such as cosmogony, cosmology, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods. Besides these documentary topics, Purāṇas include multifarious topics such as folk tales, pilgrimages, temples, medicine, astronomy, grammar, mineralogy, humour, love stories, as well as theology and philosophy.

Traditionally authorship of most of the major Purāṇas has been ascribed to Vedavyāsa (वेदव्यास). However, keeping in view the quantum and volume of the Paurāṇika work, one wonders as to how it was possible for a single person to compose such immense literature. Vyāsa (व्यास) created some of the Purāṇas. Subsequently, a tradition of institution of Vyāsas was responsible for further propagation of Paurāṇika literature. Most of the Purāṇas are anonymous texts and likely the work of many authors over the centuries.

Considering that the primordial recension of Mahābhārata (महाभारत), known as Jaya (जय), was composed by the original Vyāsa and in the wake of the fact that Bhāgavata Purāṇa (भागवत पुराण) was also written by original Vyāsa, it is logical to infer that the composition of Purāṇas might have begun around 400 BCE. Some Purāṇas, like the later portion of text in the Agnipurāṇa (अग्निपुराण), have been composed even as recently as 17^th century CE.

As mentioned, a tradition of Vyāsas authored and propagated the Paurāṇika literature. Some of these propagators included Sūtas (सूत) who were engaged in Kathāvācana (कथा वाचन) or describing Purāṇas before the audiences. The Sūtas included great ṛṣis (ऋषि) such as Śaunaka (शौनक), Akṛtavraṇa (अकृतव्रण), Mitrāyu (मित्रायु), etc. Even though they were prodigies born from the Pratiloma (प्रतिलोम) marriage (where the mother was of a higher caste than the father) these Sūtas commanded respect for their scholarship and good conduct. Traditionally, such a marriage was considered as unnatural and of lower order as against the Anuloma (अनुलोम) marriage (in which the woman was of lower caste than her husband). The Anuloma marriage was considered of natural and regular order.