Origin of Tantrism has several disputes. Some historians are of the view that the Pre-Aryan Indians could have been the originators, others attribute it to the tradition of ancient people. Historically, it dates back to the time of the rise of Buddhism as the later Buddhists adopted some of the Tantric symbols. Today, the tradition of Tantrism is practiced in the far north-east regions, amid the jungles and foothills of the Himalayas.

History of Tantrism
History of Tantrism is the history of the interaction between the two strands of practice and practitioners, whose clienteles, comprise commoners and political elites. The word Tantra means what extends knowledge. Some scholars argue that Tantra constitutes the continuation of the original Indian aboriginal tradition which predates the coming of the Indo-European Aryan invaders and their Vedic religion. Tantra appears in provinces that had not been strongly influenced by the Vedas for example the Northwest, West Bengal and the South in the 4th century. Within a few centuries it had attained pan-Indian influence.

Types of Tantrism
A number of independent branches developed like the;

Mahayana Buddhist Tantrism,

Shaivite Tantrism,

Natha Tantrism,

Shakta Tantra,

Cosmological Tantrism,

Jain Tantrism and

Vaishnava Tantrism.

Rituals in Tantrism
The rites pertaining to ‘homa’ or ‘Yajna’ is common to most Tantric traditions are direct heirs of the Vedic homa sacrifices, whereas certain elements of Tibetan Buddhist Tantra clearly draw on both Iranian and indigenous traditions. The multiple goddesses called yoginis, dakinis and ‘vixen’ spirits are found in every Tantric tradition. In the Indian context, cults of multiple goddesses were present in the nymphs, female fairies, Mothers and female seizers, who were generally propitiated with animal sacrifices and early forms of devotional worship. These goddesses were mainstream, which is further proven by the fact that such female seizers were depicted on coins and sculpture of the Kushana and Gupta-age.

However it can be ascertained that Tantra emerged out of the South Asian elite and popular mainstream sometime in the middle of the 1st millennium century. The founders of every Tantric tradition either trace their guru-disciple lineage back to an Indian source or are deemed to be incarnations of bodhisattvas of Indian origin. The multi-headed and multi-armed deities and their burgeoning families are Indian or traceable to Indian models. Much of Tantric legend revolves around the Indian ‘shamanic culture heroes’. The language of Tantra remains the Sanskrit of medieval Indian Hinduism and Buddhism. The Tantric practice which is an important element of Tantra is of Indian origin.