Srikula: family of Sri Shaktism

sri lalita-tripurasundari enthroned left foot upon sri chakra, holding traditional symbols, sugarcane bow, flower arrows, noose , goad.

the srikula (family of sri) tradition (sampradaya) focuses worship on devi in form of goddess lalita-tripura sundari, regarded great goddess (mahadevi). rooted in first-millennium uttarakhand, himachal pradesh , kashmir valley, srikula became force in south india no later seventh century, , today prevalent form of shaktism practiced in south indian regions such andhra pradesh, karnataka, kerala, tamil nadu , tamil areas of sri lanka.

the srikula s best-known school srividya, 1 of shakta tantrism s influential , theologically sophisticated movements. central symbol, sri chakra, famous visual image in of hindu tantric tradition. literature , practice perhaps more systematic of other shakta sect.

srividya largely views goddess benign [saumya] , beautiful [saundarya] (in contrast kalikula s focus on terrifying [ugra] , horrifying [ghora] goddess forms such kali or durga). in srikula practice, moreover, every aspect of goddess – whether malignant or gentle – identified lalita.

srikula adepts worship lalita using abstract sri chakra yantra, regarded subtle form. sri chakra can visually rendered either two-dimensional diagram (whether drawn temporarily part of worship ritual, or permanently engraved in metal) or in three-dimensional, pyramidal form known sri meru. not uncommon find sri chakra or sri meru installed in south indian temples, because – modern practitioners assert – there no disputing highest form of devi , of practice can done openly. see in temples not srichakra worship see when done privately.

the srividya paramparas can further broadly subdivided 2 streams, kaula (a vamamarga practice) , samaya (a dakshinamarga practice). kaula or kaulachara, first appeared coherent ritual system in 8th century in central india, , revered theorist 18th-century philosopher bhaskararaya, considered best exponent of shakta philosophy.

the samaya or samayacharya finds roots in work of 16th-century commentator lakshmidhara, , fiercely puritanical [in its] attempts reform tantric practice in ways bring in line high-caste brahmanical norms. many samaya practitioners explicitly deny being either shakta or tantric, though scholars argues cult remains technically both. samaya-kaula division marks old dispute within hindu tantrism, , 1 vigorously debated day.

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