PADDHATI PROJECT
Study of early Kaula ritual manuals, comparing sources to trace their relationship to the Tantras and the development of ritual practice.
This project focuses on the collection and comparison of the earliest available ritual manuals (paddhatis) within the Kaula traditions.
By examining their relationship to the Tantras and tracing their regional variations, the project seeks to understand the historical and geographical development and transmission of Kaula ritual procedures.
Particular attention is given to traditions centred on major Kaula goddesses such as Kubjikā, Kālī, and Tripurasundarī.
Across this material, the project aims to clarify the relationship between scripture and practice, identifying how paddhatis function as mediating documents that translate Tantric revelation into repeatable ritual form within specific lineages.