🐍 Jumadi, the androgynous Bhuta
What is one to make of an androgyne spirit with a masculine head on top of a feminine body, that relishes meat offerings while lolling its tongue out? Meet Jumadi.
Wearing a crown of snakes and sporting a Shiva Lingam on her neck, Jumadi is barely known outside the region of Tulunadu. However, the origin story of this androgynous deity bears striking similarities to that of Dhumavati who is one of the Dasha Mahavidyas or the ten Tantric Maidens of the Shakta tradition.
This uncanny parallelism has led many to hypothesize that the name ‘Jumadi’ might be a local corruption of the Sanskrit word Dhumavati. But it still leaves many riddles inexplicably waiting to be unravelled.
A precursor to Dhumavati or otherwise?
Did the worship of Dhumavti exist prior to the Shakta Tantric tradition of Bengal independent of the Mahavidyas? Could Dhumavati be an evolved form of an ancient spirit worshipped in the sacred groves of Tulunadu?
Most academic scholars for instance Professor David Kinsley, author of the fabulous book: Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine identify Dhumavati with Nirrti, Jyestha, or Alakhsmi. All three of these goddesses, as he claims, are inauspicious, dangerous, and avoided by people. But there is more than meets the eye! This arcane connection raises questions never asked before & hence merits more interrogation.
