Kubjika ( Kubjikā, also known as Vakreśvarī, Vakrikā, Ciñciṇī) is the primary deity of Kubjikāmata, a sect of non- Siddhāntika mantra marga sect. The worship of Kubjikā as one of the main aspect of Adishakti was in its peak in 12th century CE. She is still praised in tantric practices that are followed in Kaula tradition.

Etymology

Kubjikā means "to crook" or "to curve" in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

. Once lord Navātman/

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

embraced his consort Vakrikā and before the copulation, she suddenly felt shy and bent her body earning the name, Kubjikā, "the hunchback one" or Vakrikā (crooked one).

Worship

''Kubjikāmata Tantra''

A tantric text named the Kubjikāmata, dated to the ninth or tenth century, describes the worship of Kubjika. Though she was very famous among the tantric tradition of Kashmir Valley in the past, the Kubjikā cult was not familiar among the devotees. Though it seemed that Kubjikā was no longer worshipped in the valley either, in mid 1980s, she was discovered in a secret tantric worship that still exists among the

Newar Newar (; , endonym: Newa; , Pracalit script: ), or Nepami, are primarily inhabitants in Kathmandu Valley of Nepal and its surrounding areas, and the creators of its historic heritage and civilisation. Page 15. Newars are a distinct linguisti ...

people, as preserved in the Sarvāmnāya Tantra system.

''Ciñciṇīmata Tantra''

According to the ''Ciñciṇīmata Tantra'', a text that praises Kubjikā, Kaula tradition was taught to four disciples who were sent in the four directions. The disciple sent to the west founded the Western Stream (''Pascimāmnaya'') of Kaulism, the cult of Navātman and Kubjikā. The eastern disciple created '' Purvāmnaya'', the cult of Kuleśvari, while the northern disciple taught Uttarāmnaya, the cult of '' Kālasangarshini''. the Southern tradition was known as '' Dakshinamnaya'', the cult of '' Kāmeśvarī''. Nowadays,the southern Śrikula sect of Kameśvari and northern Kālikula sect of Kali are still known as Shaktism sects, while the other two (Kubjikā and Trika) are usually identified as

Shaiva sects Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in ...

along with other Kashmiri Shaiva traditions.{{cite web , url=http://www.hindu-blog.com/2015/08/goddess-kubjika.html , title=Kubjika , access-date=16 March 2017

References

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Kashmir Shaivism Kashmir Shaivism tradition is a 20th century umbrella-term for a body of Sanskrit learning, Sanskrit exegetical literature from several Nondualism, non-dualist Shaivism, Shaiva-Shaktism, Shakta Tantra, tantric and Monism, monistic religious t ...

* Sarvāmnāya *

Shaktism Shaktism () is a major Hindu denomination in which the God in Hinduism, deity or metaphysics, metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically to be a woman. Shaktism involves a galaxy of goddesses, all regarded as different aspects, mani ...

Shaktism Shaivism Hindu tantric deities Hindu goddesses