DHUMAVATI - Dasa Mahavidya series

Dhumavati is the seventh mahavidya in the Dasa Mahavidya pantheon. Once Devi Sati out of immense hunger asked Lord Shiva for food. Shiva, busy in meditation, made her wait for a long time. Sati felt ignored & being extremely hungry, she gulped down her husband. On Shiva's request, she disgorged him later. An angry Shiva cursed her to live like a widow & left. That's how, the Hindu pantheon of goddesses got its first & only widow goddess.
Breaking the stereotypes of a typical Indian goddess, Dhumavati is an old widow who is of smoke-like complexion. Hence the name, Dhumavati. She sits on a abandoned chariot, surrounded by crows. As a goddess, she represents the mostly ignored facets of life like old age, widowhood, death etc. There's only one temple dedicated to Devi Dhumavati in all of India.

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