Kubjika

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Kubjika, also known as Vakreśvarī, Vakrikā or Ciñciṇī, is the main deity of Kubjikāmata, a Kaula tantric tradition. Her worship reached its peak in Kashmir around the 12th century and she is still kept in practice within Kaula tantric rites. Kubjikā’s name is linked to a legend in which Shiva embraces his consort Vakrikā and, before their union, she bends in shyness, earning the name Kubjikā, “the crooked one” or “the hunchback.”

A tantric text called Kubjikāmata, dating to the 9th or 10th century, describes how Kubjikā is worshipped. Although Kubjikā was very famous in the old Kashmiri tantric scene, her cult gradually faded from popular practice. In the 1980s, however, she was found to be secretly worshipped again among the Newar people, preserved in the Sarvāmnāya Tantra system.

According to the Ciñciṇīmata Tantra, the Kaula tradition was taught to four disciples sent in the four directions. The western disciple founded the Pascimāmnaya, the Western Stream of Kaulism, the cult of Navātman (Shiva) and Kubjikā. The eastern disciple created Purvāmnaya, the cult of Kuleśvarī. The northern disciple taught Uttarāmnaya, the cult of Kālasangarshini. The southern tradition, Dakshinamnaya, is the cult of Kāmeśvarī.

Today, the southern Śrikula sect of Kameśvarī and the northern Kālikula sect of Kali are still known as Shaktism. Kubjikā and Trika are usually identified as Shaiva (Shiva-oriented) traditions within the broader Kashmiri Shaiva world.