Kubjika ( KubjikÃÂ, also known as Vakreà Âvarë, VakrikÃÂ, Ciñciá¹Âë) is the primary deity of KubjikÃÂmata, a sect of non-SiddhÃÂntika mantra marga sect. The worship of Kubjikàas 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.
KubjikÃÂ means "to crook" or "to curve" in Sanskrit. Once lord NavÃÂtman/ Shiva embraced his consort VakrikÃÂ and before the copulation, she suddenly felt shy and bent her body earning the name, KubjikÃÂ, "the hunchback one" or VakrikÃÂ (crooked one).
A tantric text named the KubjikÃÂmata, 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 KubjikÃÂ cult was not familiar among the devotees. Though it seemed that KubjikÃÂ 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 people, as preserved in the SarvÃÂmnÃÂya Tantra system.
According to the Ciñciá¹Âëmata Tantra, a text that praises KubjikÃÂ, Kaula tradition was taught to four disciples who were sent in the four directions. The disciple sent to the west founded the Western Stream (PascimÃÂmnaya) of Kaulism, the cult of NavÃÂtman and KubjikÃÂ. The eastern disciple created PurvÃÂmnaya, the cult of Kuleà Âvari, while the northern disciple taught UttarÃÂmnaya, the cult of KÃÂlasangarshini. the Southern tradition was known as Dakshinamnaya, the cult of KÃÂmeà Âvarë. Nowadays, the southern à Ârikula sect of Kameà Âvari and northern KÃÂlikula sect of Kali are still known as Shaktism sects, while the other two (Kubjikàand Trika) are usually identified as Shaiva sects along with other Kashmiri Shaiva traditions.