Flood states that the pioneers of Tantra may have been ascetics who lived at the cremation grounds, possibly from "above low-caste groups", and were probably non-Brahmanical and possibly part of an ancient tradition. By the early medieval times, their practices may have included the imitation of deities such as Kali and Bhairava, with offerings of non-vegetarian food, alcohol and sexual substances. According to this theory, these practitioners would have invited their deities to enter them, then reverted the role in order to control that deity and gain its power. These ascetics would have been supported by low castes living at the cremation places.
Flood states that the pioneers of Tantra may have been ascetics who lived at the cremation grounds possibly from "above low-caste groups" and were probably non-Brahmanical and possibly part of an ancient tradition By the early medieval times their practices may have included the imitation of deities such as Kali and Bhairava with offerings of non-vegetarian food alcohol and sexual substances According to this theory these practitioners would have invited their deities to enter them then reverted the role in order to control that deity and gain its power These ascetics would have been supported by low castes living at the cremation places