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Padma Purana (Devanagari: पद्म पुराण), one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text, is divided into five parts. In the first part, sage Pulastya explains to Bhishma about religion and the essence of the religion. The second part describes in detail about Prithvi, that is, the earth. In the third part, description of the cosmos is given, including creation and description of India, that is, Bharat Mata. The fourth part describes the life and deeds of Rama. The fifth part is in the style of a dialogue between Shiva and his consort, Parvati, and deals with the essential knowledge about religion.

The major sections of this Purana:

• Srishtikhand, that is the Book of the Universe, is in the form of a dialogue between Bheeshma and the sage Pulastya. It also has a detailed description of Pushkar, a famous place of pilgrimage of Hindus. It is a matter of interest that some sections of this part is derisive of the worship of Grahas, that is, the planets.
• The part named Bhumikhand, that is, the Book of the Earth, has a description of Prithvi (the earth), as also tales of mythical kings (like Prithu and Yayati), and several sages. Some scholars believe that the description of earth and tales of kings and sages in this Purana has factual elements of geography and history of that period.
• Swargakhand, that is the Book of Heaven, contains details of the sequence of creation of the cosmos. It also describes the significance and importance of holy places of Hinduism; and geographical expansion and features of India (that is, the Jumbudweep), including its mountains and rivers. It also tells about the people of India of that period.
• In Patamkhand, that is the Book of the Underworld, Sutaji narrates the life story of Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, to an assembly of sages. There are also sections devoted to the life and deeds of Lord Krishna.
• The part named Uttarakhand presents, in a dialogue style between Shiva and Parvati, the metaphysical aspect of religion. This part also has sections, which contain 1000 names of Vishnu, and 1000 names of Rama. The name of the section is also long been applied to the section of the Indian Himalayas that contains the source of the Yamuna and Ganga, as well as the traditional abode of both Vishnu at Badrinath and Shiva at Kedarnath.

• Mani, Vettam. Puranic Encyclopedia. 1st English ed. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1975.

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