After the jīva has left, the body is consigned to the funeral pyre, our entire subjective universe centered on the body ends in smoke; hence the power of ultimate destruction is called the Smoky-One (Dhūmāvati). She is the śakti that destroys the structures of all things, (any “structure” is ruled over by the male principle whereas “process” is the feminine energy), hence she is called a widow (vidhavā). Nothing is left for her to own, hence she is utterly destitute. She is the goddess-of-poverty (Dāridra), of frustration, of despair, identified with Mis-fortune (A-lakṣmī) and with the goddess-of-disease-and misery (Niṛṛti).
Her presence can be seen in the destitute, the beggars, the lepers, the diseased and disenfranchised. She dwells in the wounds-of-the-earth (kṣata-vikṣata-pṛthivi), in deserts, ruined houses, rags, hunger, thirst, widowhood, quarrels, alcoholism, crime, domestic violence, the mourning of children, the battle field etc..
Dhūmāvatī rules over the rainy season which lasts for four months, during which time the life-giving solar light is hidden by the evil water-spirit (asura-apya-prāṇa).
The night of Dhūmāvatī is the Night-of-Death (Kāla-rātri) — during the 4 months of the monsoon no public ritual can be performed, there are no pilgrimages, no festivals, no marriages, no initiation. At the end of the rainy period the rule of light returns and the festival of lights (dīpāvalī) takes place.
This corresponds in the cosmic cycle or the night of the gods when the Universe is withdrawn and darkness rules.
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