Abstract
The paper deals with the eschatological imagery of hell as can be traced in the Hindu Puranas. The main focus is put on visions of the road towards hell, which generations of anonymous authors of the Puranas struggled to depict in the most horrific terms.
While the Puranas as a specific literary genre are introduced briefly, emphasis is put on their antiquity, folk origin and popular appeal among the masses throughout Indian history. After a detailed description of the Puranic imagery of "hell-way", supplemented with the abundant textual references, its presumable development in the course of Indian literature is indicated.
Significant events in the history of Indian religions, esp. during the first millennium of the Common Era, are reminded and used as keys for proper understanding of the imagery of hell in the Hindu tradition.