The Saura Purana (Sanskrit: सौर पुराण, Saura Purāņa) is one of the Shaiva Upapuranas, a genre of Hindu religious texts. The printed editions of this text have 69 chapters. The chapter colophons of this text mention it as a part of the Brahma Purana. It is presumed that a version of this text, different from the extant one, existed earlier.
The extant Saura Purana, though proclaimed by Surya, eulogises Shiva and his shakti Parvati. This text praises Varanasi and describes its various sacred places and lingas. It consists of a version of the narrative of Urvasi and Pururavas in chapter 31. It also deals with Devi worship, merits of dānas (donations), vratas (vows) and brief descriptions of the Puranas. Chapters 38-40 contain attacks on Madhvacharya, an early medieval philosopher and his works in the form of a prophecy.
Editions
The early printed editions of this text published by the Anandashrama (Anandashrama Sanskrit Series 18), Poona in 1889 and the Vangavasi Press, Calcutta in 1908 (along with a Bengali translation) are practically identical.