Preliminary Remarks The past two decades have witnessed an unprecedented growth of interest in the Hindu Tantras both

on the part of the layman and scholar alike. This vast area of study, so badly neglected in the past, is now slowly beginning to come into its own. The new interest, accompanied by a greater (although still very limited) knowledge of the Tantras, has led to a more critical and scholarly approach to the study of these sacred texts. Although scholars in the past were aware that important internal distinctions exist in the 'Tantric tradition',1 they were largely glossed over in an attempt to penetrate the 'philosophy of the Tantras',2 or the 'principles of Tantra'.3 Important exceptions on the Saiva side (we are not concerned here with Vai$nava Tantra) have been the studies and critical editions made in recent years of the Siddhantagamas. This important work must be largely credited to the French Institute of Indology at Pondicherry and in particular to Pt. N. R. Bhatt and Dr. Helene BrunnerLachaux, who has contributed to it immensely by her extensive work on Siddhanta ritual.4 Another area of research has been the Srividya tradition. Many of the major Tantras and allied works of this school have been edited and independent studies published. However, apart from these two major fields, hardly any other work has been done on individual Tantric traditions. The aim of this monograph is to pursue this line of approach further by presenting a preliminary study of another Hindu Tantric tradition, namely, the cult of Kubjika, the details of which are recorded in the Tantras of the Western School: the Pascimamnaya. The Pascimamnaya belongs to a category of Saivagama variously called ' Kulagama', 'Kulasastra''or 'Kulamnaya', which we shall attempt to delineate in the second part of this monograph. Although not as extensive as the Siddhanta or as well known and diffused as the Srividya, the Pascimamnaya is an important and substantial Tantric tradition. Up to now very little work has been done on the Pascimamnaya (see appendix A). Hardly any texts of this school have been edited, although about a