The Geography of the Puranas c6.87

c6.87

for instance, in the Padma (Bhūmi Khaṇḍa) its greater part is illustrative of places of pilgrimage; the Agni Purāṇa emphasises details of the Gayā region; the Brahma and Varāha Purāṇas deal at length with the lands around Mathurā and Puri; the Vāmana Purāṇa with those of Thaneśvara, and the Padma Purāṇa with the Ajmer region. This is natural since the Purāṇas were evidently written in different periods and under different circumstances. It may be possible to reconstruct a tentative chronology of the different Purāṇas on the basis of the progress of geographical knowledge evidenced in them. Dr Hazra¹⁰ and Dr Sircar¹¹ have attempted a chronology for the Purāṇas on extra-geographical considerations, mainly linguistic and historical, and it would be interesting to compare their conclusions with those reached by the geographer. However, this aspect of the Purāṇas has not been discussed here since it was considered beyond the scope of this work.