Kubjikā, Kālī, Tripurā, and Trika

This essay is about the goddess Kubjikā. The cult of this obscure goddess compared with that of the much better known goddess Kali, and references are occasionally provided to the goddess Tripura. The latter, like Kubjikā, figures prominently right from the start of her history in the Sakta Kaula Tantras, the former emerges initially in the Bhairava Tantras but soon becomes a member of the Kaula pantheon. For those interested in Nepalese studies an important common feature of these three goddesses and their ectypes is the central position they have held for several centuries in the esoteric Tantrism of high-caste Hindu Newars as their lineage (kula) deities. Thus the aim of this paper is twofold. One is to present a general overview of some salient features of the typology ot these forms of the sacred. The other is to present a brief introduction to Newar Saktism as the context in which the goddess Kubjikā has been worshipped for most of her history.