The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2075 page)

(7th cent. CE) that the Goddess (
Dev
) is worshipped as supreme. In texts called
Tantras
and
kta
Upani
ads
we find a developed Tantric form of worship of the Goddess as
akti.
The
kta Tantras are closely allied to monistic or
Kashmir
aivism
and adhere to a non-dual theology with either
akti or the union of
iva and
akti as absolute. Most
kta Tantras declare themselves to be of the
Kaula
or
Kula
school and can be divided into two main categories:

(i) the
r
Kula
, which advocates worship of the benign and beautiful goddess
r
/Lak
m
as Tripur
sundar
; and
(ii) the
K
l
Kula
, which advocates worship of the fierce goddess
K
l
. A smaller third category advocates worship of the Goddess
T
r
. The