Kubjika
Hindu deity
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Kubjika (Sanskrit: कुब्जिका IAST: Kubjikā, also known as Vakreśvarī, Vakrikā, Ciñciṇī, Kuñcikā) is the primary deity of the Kaula Paścimāmnāya (Western transmission), a lineage of non-Siddhāntika mantra marga sect.[1] The worship of Kubjikā as one of the main aspect of Durga or Adi Parashakti was in its peak in 12th century CE.[2] She is still praised in tantric practices that are followed in Kaula tradition.[3]
Etymology
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 traditions was not familiar among the devotees. Though it seemed that Kubjikā was no longer worshipped in the valley either, in mid 1980s, scholars learned that her worship continued to be transmitted in a secret tantric worship that still exists among certain initiated Newar lineages in the Kathmandu Valley, as preserved in the Sarvāmnāya Tantra system.[5]
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.[6] The eastern disciple created Purvāmnaya, the cult of Kuleśvari, while the northern disciple taught Uttarāmnaya, the cult of Kālasankarshini. 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 along with other Kashmiri Shaiva traditions.[7]