“Dhumavati Jayanti”, also known as “Dhumavati Mahavidya Jayanti”, is a very significant Hindu festival as it commemorates the appearance of Goddess Dhumavati, one of the ten Mahavidyas, on the earth. As per Hindu Calendar, it falls on Ashtami tithi (eighth day) during Shukla Paksha (waxing phase of the Moon) of Jyeshtha month. According to the Gregorian Calendar, it is more likely to occur in the months of June or July. This year, “Dhumavati Jayanti” is on the ‘14th June ’24.’
As per “Drik Panchang”, the “tithi” for “Dhumavati Jayanti” in the year ’24 is as follows:
Dhumavati Jayanti on Friday, 14th June ’24
The word “Dhumavati” literally stands for “the smokey one”, hence, Goddess Dhumavati is associated with the fierce avatar of Shakti who kills demonic souls by creating dangerous smoke.
She finds utmost importance in Hindu Dharma as she is believed to be the seventh Goddess in the “Dasa Mahavidya Pantheon.” This pantheon in Hinduism is basically related to the ten Mahavidyas/ the ten great divine mothers/ ten Hindu Tantric goddesses who are the ten forms of Devi Shakti.
Goddess Dhumavati is also considered to be the most furious form of Maa Durga. As per Vedic texts, she is associated with all inauspicious things in the universe. These include lethargy, sin, poverty, perversion, sadness and deformity. She also relates to the Chaturmasya period (the inauspicious one). Many believe that she appeared during the cosmic dissolution (Maha Pralaya) along with Alakshmi (who's considered the opposite of Devi Lakshmi). Many Hindu Shastras say that Dhumavati is the elder sister of Alakshmi (the Goddess of misfortune and unluck & who resides on Peepal tree). Many Hindu scholars mention that Devi Dhumavati is the ‘void’ just before the creation and post destruction.
In Hindu texts, she has been depicted as an ugly old lady carrying a winnowing basket on a horseless chariot. As she's related to inauspiciousness, her abode is cremation ground.
We find different depictions of Devi Dhumavati in different Hindu texts. The Dhumavati Tantra says she's a ‘widow’ who is ugly, old, thin, tall, unhealthy, and has a pale-gray complexion. She is described as restless and wicked. She doesn't wear any jewelry and is dressed in old, dirty clothes with messy hair. Her eyes look scary, her nose is long and crooked, and some of her sharp teeth are missing, leaving gaps in her smile. Her ears are rough and ugly, and her breasts hang down. In one of her shaking hands, she holds a winnowing basket, and with the other, she makes a gesture of giving a blessing or knowledge. She rides in a chariot without horses, with a crow emblem and a banner. She is clever and cunning. Always hungry and thirsty, Dhumavati causes arguments and invokes fear.
In the Prapanchasara Sara-sangraha, Devi Dhumavati is described as having a black complexion and wearing snake ornaments. She dresses in rags taken from cremation grounds and holds a spear and a skull-cup, sometimes a sword instead of a spear.
Another description says she is old with a wrinkled, angry face, a cloud-like complexion, and features like a crow's. She holds a broom, a winnowing fan, a torch, and a club. She looks cruel, with disheveled grey hair, dry breasts, and old, worn clothes.
Sometimes, Maa Dhumavati rides a crow and holds a trident. She may wear a garland of severed heads, have red limbs, and matted, messy hair. She can carry the buffalo-horn of Yama, the god of death, showing her link to death.
Devi Dhumavati also has fierce, warlike traits. In the Shakta pramoda, she crushes bones in her mouth, making awful noises, and creates scary sounds with drums and bells. She wears a garland of skulls, chews the corpses of demons, and drinks a mix of blood and wine.
There are so many beautiful stories that relate to Devi Dhumavati. One of them, as mentioned in Shakti Sangama Tantra, says that:
Once, Prajapati Daksha invited everyone, including all Devas, Asuras, Rishi-Muni, and the entire praja, to a fire sacrifice in his kingdom, but he did not invite Shiv and Shakti. Feeling insulted, Shakti asked her husband, Shiv, to let her go to her father and ask for the reason. Shiv tried to console her and refused to let her go, but she did not listen and went straight to Daksha’s kingdom. Despite knowing his daughter was there, Daksha ignored her. Feeling humiliated, Shakti committed suicide by jumping into the sacrificial fire.
The story goes that moments later, a blackened and burnt goddess emerged from the fire. She was Devi Dhumavati. Thus, she is believed to be what remains of Sati. “Prapanchasara Sangraha” says that Dhumavati then put on ornaments made of snakes and a Sari made of rags taken from the cremation ground.
According to the legends in Prana Toshini Tantra, one day Goddess Parvati asked Lord Shiva for the secret of meditation. But as Lord Shiva was in deep meditation, he didn't hear her. Annoyed, Goddess Parvati swallowed Lord Shiva. She then started producing a lot of heat, fire, smoke, dust, and fumes. Later, at Shiva's request, she released him. After this, Lord Shiva rejected her and cursed her to take the form of a widow, saying she would be worshiped in this form. 'Dhuma' means smoke, so Dhumavati means one who is made of smoke.
There's a very beautiful depiction of Mata Dhumavati by a Vedic scholar, Ganapati Muni, who says:
“Perceived as the Void, as the dissolved form of consciousness, when all beings are dissolved in sleep in the supreme Brahman, having swallowed the entire universe, the seer-poets call her the most glorious and the eldest, Dhumavati. She exists in the forms of sleep, lack of memory, illusion, and dullness in the creatures immersed in the illusion of the world, but among the yogis she becomes the power that destroys all thoughts, indeed Samadhi (death and liberation) itself.
— Ganapati Muni, Uma Sahasram 38, pp. 13—14”
As Maa Dhumavati is considered to be a widow, she's the only Mahavidya without a consort. Although many texts mention that she's a consort, Dhumavan. Hence, though associated with Shiva, having eaten him, he has since left her. Having destroyed the male element (Purusha) in the universe, she is left with nothing, but she is still Shakti, the female element with latent energy. Dhumavati's insatiable hunger and thirst is highlighted in many texts, and has been interpreted as the manifestation of her unsatisfied desires.
Despite having dark complexion and an ugly appearance, she urges us, humans, to look beyond the superficial things and foster our faith in the Supreme Truth, from which both the beauty and ugliness arises. By embodying what is typically considered undesirable, she challenges us to see past external forms and recognize the deeper, unchanging reality that underlies all existence. Her presence reminds us that true wisdom and understanding come from acknowledging the unity of all things, beyond the dualities of attractive and unattractive, and focusing on the eternal truth that transcends physical appearances.
Overall, Goddess Dhumavati teaches us to accept the balance of good and bad in life, understanding that both are inevitable. She urges us to focus on accepting whatever comes our way, whether auspicious or not. Through her less-than-ideal appearance, Devi Dhumavati also portrays the balance of life and death. Moreover, she emphasizes that women, regardless of their complexion—be it black or white—should be treated equally in society. Her teachings remind us to look beyond external differences and recognize the inherent worth and dignity of every individual, fostering a more inclusive and accepting world.
The festival of “Dhumavati Jayanti” involves so many traditional rituals and observances as mentioned below:
Dashakshari Dhumavati Mantra (10 syllables mantra) is as follows :
धूं धूं धूमावती स्वाहा
|| Dhum Dhum Dhum Dhumavati Svaha॥
Despite Dhumavati's relation to inauspiciousness, worshiping her on this day bestows so many benefits:
So let us also worship Goddess Dhumavati this “Dhumavati Jayanti” and pray to her to provide relief from all kinds of inauspiciousness in life.
|| Shubh Dhumavati Jayanti ||
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