Tantra Literature of Kerala- Special Reference to Mātṛsadbhāva

Kerala has an enormous tradition on Tantra literature and also has different kinds of ritual peculiarities between Brahmanical and nonBrahmanical rituals. Most of the Tantra ritual manuals of Kerala focus the temple rituals and concomitant subjects too. Philosophical discussions are not much can be seen in Kerala Tantra manuals. There are many texts on Kerala Tantra that remain in manuscripts from. The Mātṛsadbhāva is one among them, which discuss the ritual of Goddess Bhadrakālī/ Camuṇḍā along with Sapta-mātṛs, Śiva and Kṣetrapāla. The text is believed as the first Śākta text from Kerala. The text has twenty-eight chapters, begins from ācāryalakṣaṇa to ends in jīrṇodhāra. The text has a strong connection with South Indian Brahmayāmala and the author of Mātṛsadbhāva refer to Brahmayāmala many times. The present study is focusing on the special features of Tantra literature of Kerala and a special discussion on Mātṛsadbhāva along with Brahmayāmala and Śeṣasamuccaya.