The Skanda Purana [Skandapurāṇa] is the largest Mahapurana, a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text contains over 81,000 verses, and is part of Shaivite literature. It is titled after Skanda, a son of Shiva and Parvati, who is also known as Kartikeya. While the text is named after Skanda, he does not feature either more or less prominently in this text than in other Shiva-related Puranas. The text has been an important historical record and influence on the Hindu traditions related to the war-god Skanda.