Dhumavati
धूमावती • Dhūmāvatī
"The Smoky One (Dhuma = smoke + vati = possessing)"
Category & Classification
Iconography
Attributes & Weapons
- Shurpa (Winnowing basket) (One hand) - Separating good from bad; karma
- Empty hand or bowl (Other hand) - Emptiness; hunger; begging
Distinctive Features
- Old, ugly, wrinkled appearance
- No husband (widow)
- Pale, disheveled, unbraided hair
- White or dirty clothes
- Rides a crow or horseless chariot
- Large protruding teeth
- Long nose
- Trembling
- Hungry and thirsty expression
- No ornaments; dressed poorly
Family & Relations
| Origin | Emerged from the smoke when Sati immolated herself; or born when Shakti devoured Shiva |
Mythology & Stories
Emerged from the smoke when Sati immolated herself; or born when Shakti devoured Shiva
Dhumavati represents what remains after everything beautiful is gone - she is poverty, widowhood, strife, and disappointment. Yet spiritually, she represents the ultimate truth: the void from which all comes and to which all returns. For sincere seekers, her apparent inauspiciousness becomes the gateway to transcending duality.
Devouring Shiva
Once Shakti became so hungry that she consumed Shiva himself. This left her a widow, and the smoke rising from her digestion became her form as Dhumavati. Thus she exists without consort, embodying the ultimate aloneness.
Source: Shakta tradition
Birth from Sati's Smoke
When Sati immolated herself in Daksha's yajna, the smoke that rose from her burning body became Dhumavati - the inauspicious remainder after the beautiful has been consumed.
Source: Tantric tradition
Alakshmi Identity
Dhumavati is sometimes identified with Alakshmi or Jyeshtha - the elder, inauspicious sister of Lakshmi who emerged during Samudra Manthan along with negative things.
Source: Puranic correlation
Worship & Mantras
Mantras
Dhoom (smoke syllable)
Om Dhoom Dhoom Dhumavati Svaha
Om Dhumavatyai Vidmahe Dhumra-varnayai Dhimahi Tanno Jyeshtha Prachodayat
Om Dhum Dhum Dhumavati Thah Thah
Stotras & Hymns
Offerings
- Simple offerings
- Stale food (in some traditions)
- Dark colored items
- At cremation grounds
Temples
Dhumavati Temple
Varanasi, UP
Near cremation grounds; rare dedicated temple
Temples in Bengal
Various
Worshipped in Tantric traditions
Associated Festivals
Astrological Connection
Symbolism & Philosophy
Cosmic Role: Void; what remains after dissolution; the inauspicious that contains ultimate truth
- Smoke represents what remains when fire has consumed everything - the residue
- Her widowhood means she is beyond duality - there is no 'other'
- Ugliness transcends attachment to beauty - the highest wisdom
- Winnowing basket separates grain from chaff - discrimination
- Crow represents death, inauspiciousness - but also transformation
- She teaches that ultimate reality is beyond pleasant and unpleasant
Represents the void (shunya) from which all emerges; for advanced practitioners who have transcended duality
