Santoshi Mata is a Hindu goddess of joy and satisfaction. She is not mentioned in Hindu scriptures; hence, many Hindus are skeptical about her authenticity. Her worship was very popular in some parts of India during the 1970s and 80s, attributed to a superhit Bollywood movie named Jai Santhoshi Maa. Although her popularity has decreased over the years, some Hindus still worship her.
Meaning of the Name Santoshi Mata:
The word Santoshi means “satisfied or happy”, and Mata means mother. Therefore, Santoshi Mata means “the mother of or goddess of happiness”.
Iconography:
Mostly, she is depicted as having four hands with a sword and a trident in her rear hands and a small plate in the left front hand. Her right hand is in the Varada Mudra. She is wearing a garland of flowers, gold ornaments, and a golden crown. She is sitting in Padmasana wearing a red saree.
Birth of Santoshi Mata:
No authentic story narrates the birth of the goddess, but there is a story in the movie Jai Santoshi Maa about this.
On a Raksha Bandhan day, Lord Ganesha’s sister, Manasa, tied a Rakhi around his wrist, and he gave gifts to her. Seeing this, his sons told him they also wanted a sister like him. Although Lord Ganesha refused initially, upon persistent request by his wives and Sage Narada, he agreed. Therefore, he created Santoshi Mata through two flames rising from his wives’ chests.
Santoshi Mata Vrata Katha:
Once upon a time, an old widow was living with her seven sons in a village. All of them were working except the youngest one, Dinakara. Therefore, the woman loved and favored the other six more but pretended she loved the youngest one the most. She used to serve him the leftovers of his brothers’ meals, but he was gullible and did not understand her tricks.
He had a lovely and pious wife named Satyavati, who knew her mother-in-law’s tricks but could not dare to tell him. One day, Dinakara told her that her mother loved him the most. Satyavati could not tolerate his gullibility and told him the truth, which he did not believe. Then she told him to see with his own eyes the trickery of his mother.
Once there was a festival, and his mother was preparing laddoos. He told her that he was having severe headaches and pretended to sleep in the kitchen under a thin cloth. After some time, his six brothers came for dinner. His mother fed them with the best food she had prepared. After their meals, she collected the remnants from their plates and made a big laddoo.
Then she went to the youngest son, woke him up, and told him, ”See, son, I have made a special laddoo for you with my own hands. Your brothers just had their meals. You also eat it and sleep again.”
The son did not tell her what he had just witnessed, but he told her he was not hungry and would go to a city for a job. His mother replied, “Instead of going on any other day, why don’t you go right now?” Therefore, he decided to leave the house immediately and packed his luggage. While leaving the house, he met his wife, gave her a ring as a souvenir, and asked her for something to remind him of her. She said that she had nothing but the cow dung. So, she printed the impression of her hands on the back of his shirt.
After walking for days, he reached a far city. He approached a merchant in a shop and asked for a job there. The merchant needed a servant, so he kept him on the job. Dinakar worked very hard and honestly there. He used to work from 7 a.m. until midnight and never took leave. After some days, he also started keeping the accounts. Soon, the merchant’s profits increased significantly. Impressed by his intelligence, hard work, and honesty, the merchant offered him a partnership in the business. After 12 years, he became a famous businessman. Then, the merchant left the whole responsibility of the shop on his shoulders and went away for a pilgrimage.
But he was unaware of what his wife was going through during that time. After his departure, her in-laws started troubling her. They used to make her do all the chores in the house, and did not give her proper food, either.
One day, she went to collect wood in the jungle where she saw some women doing a vrata. After inquiring, she found out that they were doing Santoshi Mata Vrata. The woman told her about the benefits and details of the ritual.
Hearing that, Satyavati also started doing the Vrata. She sold the woods in the market and brought jaggery and roasted chickpeas. She kept a fast and prayed to the goddess. The following Friday, she received a letter from her husband, and on the following Friday, she received some money from him. But she was unhappy because she wanted to meet her husband. So she went to the temple and requested the goddess, “Oh, mother! When did I ask for money? I just want to meet my husband. Please fulfill my wish.”
The same night, the goddess appeared in her husband’s dream and advised him to return to his wife. But because of the workload, he could not do so. She told him to worship her, and he would find a way. He followed her order and could sell all the items in a single day. Then he returned to his village and started living in a separate room in the same house with his wife after hearing what she had been through.
Soon, his mother discovered their happiness was because of the Santoshi Mata Vrata that his wife was doing. So one day, on the day of Udyapana, she mixed sour things in the Prasadam, which brought on the fury of the goddess over the duo, as sour things are strictly prohibited from her worship.
Because of that, the king arrested him under false accusations, but his wife learned that that had happened because her Udyapana ceremony did not go well. So she reperformed it and soon her husband was released. After that, she became pregnant and gave birth to a healthy and beautiful son.
One day to test Satyavati’s devotion, Santoshi Mata assumed a terrifying form and visited her house. Everybody in the house was terrified, but only the daughter-in-law recognized her. She welcomed her and worshiped her to the fullest ability. Then the goddess assumed her actual form.
Seeing this, the in-laws recognized their mistakes and asked for forgiveness. The goddess forgave them, and the family lived peacefully thereafter.
Benefits of Doing Santoshi Mata Vrata:
1. For happiness and welfare.
2. For fulfillment of all wishes.
3. For marriage.
4. For satisfaction.
How to do Santoshi Mata Vrata:
This vrata needs to be observed for 16 consecutive Fridays. It should start on the first Friday of Shukla Paksha, i.e., the waxing-moon period.
1. One should need to observe a fast and take only one meal on the day. Do not eat or distribute any sour food on this day.
2. Take a bath or clean yourself before preparing for worship.
3. Wear clean clothes.
4. Clean the house and place of worship.
5. Place an idol or image of the goddess on a clean cloth or a wooden board in a corner of the house.
6. Fill a Kalasha with clean water and place a bowl containing jaggery and roasted chickpeas.
7. Clean the idol/image with clean water and do the puja.
8. Offer Haldi, Kumkum, paan, supari, flowers, coconut, and banana to the goddess.
9. Gather your family members and/or neighbors and read the Santoshi Mata Vrata Katha.
10. In the end, perform the Aarti and sprinkle the water from the Kalasha in all corners of the house.
11. Then distribute the Prasadam, i.e., the jaggery and the chickpea, in the bowl, to your family and others.
12. Invite eight boys on the sixteenth Friday and give them meals consisting of kheer and puri.
Is Santoshi Mata a Real goddess?
In June 2014, Jagadguru Shankaracharya proclaimed that Santoshi Mata is not a real goddess and is not mentioned anywhere in the Hindu scriptures. This created a debate all over India, though on a small scale compared to his comments about Sai Baba worship, whether she is a real goddess or not.
It is believed that before the 1960s, nobody knew about her when her first five temples were established. Also, these temples were not originally Santhoshi Mata’s, instead, they were temples to other goddesses converted to Santhoshi Mata temples. She became popular after the 1975 movie, Jai Santoshi Maa, became a huge hit.
Also, per the Puranas, Lord Ganesha only has two sons and no daughters. The story of Santoshi Mata was circulated through word of mouth, pamphlets, and poster art by some unknown persons.
While some Hindus believe that she is a form of Goddess Durga and is mentioned in some versions of the Shrimad Devi Mahapurana.
Therefore, she may be a local goddess popularized by a Bollywood movie.
Jai Santoshi Maa Movie:
Per Bollywood gossip, when producer Satram Rohara decided to produce a mythical movie based on a scarcely popular goddess, many people thought he was insane and advised him against it. But the producer was not budged and the rest is history. The movie is one of the biggest hits in Hindi cinema, bringing on a wave of mythical movies in Bollywood.
Plot:
The film opens in the Dev Lok (Hindi for Devaloka) or “the world of the gods,” Hindu heaven located above the clouds, where we witness the “birth” of Goddess Santoshi (“Santoshi Maa”) as the daughter of Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of good beginnings, and his two wives Riddhi and Siddhi (“prosperity” and “spiritual power”). Although Lord Vinayaka has another wife, Buddhi (“wisdom”), and another son, Kshema (“well-being”), other than Shubha (“auspiciousness”) and Labha (“profit”), they are not portrayed in the film. A key role is played by the immortal sage Narada, a devotee of Lord Vishnu, and a cosmic busybody who regularly intervenes to advance the film’s two parallel plots, which concern both human beings and gods.
We soon meet the 18th-century maiden Satyavati Sharma (Kanan Kaushal), Santoshi Mata’s greatest earthly devotee, leading a group of women in an aarti to the goddess. This first song, “Main To Arti Utaru” (I perform Mother Santoshi’s aarti) exemplifies through its camerawork the experience of darshan —of “seeing” and being seen by a deity in the reciprocal act of “visual communion” that is central to Hindu worship.
Through the Mother’s grace, Satyavati soon meets, falls in love with, and manages to marry the handsome lad Brijmohan (“Birju”), youngest of seven brothers in a prosperous Bias Brahmin farmer family, an artistic flute-playing type who can also render a zippy bhajan on request (Apni Santoshi Maa, “Our Mother Santoshi”).
Alas, with the boy come to the in-laws, and two of Birju’s six sisters-in-law, Durga and Maya are jealous shrews who have it in for him and Satyavati from the beginning. To make matters worse, Narada (in a delightful scene back in heaven) “stirs up” the “jealousy” of three senior goddesses, Lakshmi, Parvati, and Brahmani (a.k.a. Sarasvati)— the wives of the “Hindu trinity” of Vishnu, Lord Shiva, and Brahma—against the “upstart” goddess Santoshi Ma.
They examine her perseverance or faith (Shraddha) by making life miserable for her chief devotee. Of course, this is all just a charade, and the holy goddesses act as if they are jealous of the granddaughter of Universal Mother Parvati to test Satyavati’s devotion.
After a fight with his relatives, Birju leaves home to seek his fortune, narrowly escaping a watery grave (planned for him by the goddesses) through his wife’s devotion to Santoshi Ma. Nevertheless, the divine ladies convince his family that he is indeed dead, adding the stigma of widowhood to Satyavati’s other woes. Her sisters-in-law treat her like a slave, beat and starve her, and a local rogue attempts to rape her; Santoshi Ma (played as an adult by Anita Guha), taking a human form, rescues her several times.
Eventually, Satyavati is driven to attempt suicide but is stopped by Narada, who tells her about the sixteen-Fridays fast in honor of Santoshi Ma, which can grant any wish. Satyavati completes it with great difficulty and more divine assistance, and just in the nick of time, for the now-prosperous Birju, stricken with amnesia by the goddesses and living in a distant place, has fallen in love with a wealthy merchant’s daughter. Through Santoshi Ma’s grace, he gets his memory back and returns home laden with wealth.
When he discovers the awful treatment given to his wife, he builds a palatial home for the two of them, complete with an in-house temple to the Holy Mother. Satyavati plans a grand ceremony of udyapan or “completion” (of her vrata ritual) and invites her in-laws. But the celestials and sadistic sisters-in-law make a last-ditch effort to ruin her by squeezing lime juice into one of the dishes (key point here: the rules of Santoshi Ma’s fast forbid eating, or serving, any sour food). All hell breaks loose — before peace is finally restored, on earth as it is in heaven, and a new deity is triumphantly welcomed to the pantheon, as the goddesses have been convinced of Satyavati’s devotion.
Santoshi Mata Aarti in Hindi:
जय सन्तोषी माता मैया जय सन्तोषी माता
अपने जन की सुख और
अपने जन की सुख और
सम्पति दाता
जय सन्तोषी माता
सुन्दर चीर सुनहरी मां धारण कीन्हो
मां धारण कीन्हो
हीरा पन्ना दमके
हीरा पन्ना दमके
तन श्रृंगार लीन्हो
जय सन्तोषी माता
गेरू लाल छटा छबि बदन कमल सोहे
मैया बदन कमल सोहे
मंद हंसत करुणामयी
मंद हंसत करुणामयी
त्रिभुवन जन मोहे
जय सन्तोषी माता
स्वर्ण सिंहासन बैठी चंवर दुरे प्यारे
मैया चंवर दुरे प्यारे
धूप दीप मधु मेवा
धूप दीप मधु मेवा
भोज धरे न्यारे
जय सन्तोषी माता
गुड़ अरु चना परम प्रिय तामें संतोष कियो
मैया तामें संतोष कियो
संतोषी कहलाई
संतोषी कहलाई
भक्तन वैभव दियो
जय सन्तोषी माता
शुक्रवार प्रिय मानत आज दिवस सोही
मैया आज दिवस सोही
भक्त मंडली छाई
भक्त मंडली छाई
कथा सुनत मोही
जय सन्तोषी माता
मंदिर जग मग ज्योति मंगल ध्वनि छाई
मैया मंगल ध्वनि छाई
विनय करें हम बालक
विनय करें हम बालक
चरनन सिर नाई
जय सन्तोषी माता
भक्ति भावमय पूजा अंगीकृत कीजै
मैया अंगीकृत कीजै
जो मन बसे हमारे
जो मन बसे हमारे
इच्छित फल दीजै
जय सन्तोषी माता
जय सन्तोषी माता मैया जय सन्तोषी माता
अपने जन की सुख और
अपने जन की सुख और
सम्पति दाता
जय सन्तोषी माता
जय सन्तोषी माता
जय सन्तोषी माता
Transliteration:
Jai Santoshi Mata
Maiya Jai Santoshi Mata
Apne sevak jan ki sukh sampati data
Jai Santoshi Mata
Sundar veer sunahari
Ma dharan kinho
Heera panna damake, tan shringar linho
Jai Santoshi Mata
Geru laal chhata chhavi
Bbadan kamal sohe
Mand hansat karunamayi
Tribhuvan mann mohe
Jai Santoshi Mata
Svarna simhasan baithi
Chavar dhure pyare
Dhup deep madhu meva
Bhog Dhare nyare
Jai Santoshi Mata
Gud aru chana param priya
Tame santosh kiyo
Santoshi kahalai
Bhaktan vaibhav diyo
Jai Santoshi Mata
Shukravar priy manat aaj divas sohi
Bhakt mandali chhai, katha sunat mohi
Jai Santoshi Mata
Mandir jagamag jyoti
Mangal dhvani chai
Vinay kare ham baalak
Charanan sir nai
Jai Santoshi Mata
Bhakti bhavamay puja
Angikrut kijai
Jo mann base humare, ichha fal dijai
Jai Santoshi Mata
Santoshi Mata Aarti in Marathi:
जय देवी श्री देवी संतोषी माते।
वंदन भावे माझे तव पदकमलाते।।धृ।।
श्रीलक्ष्मीदेवी तूं श्रीविष्णूपत्नी।
पावसी भक्तालागी अति सोप्या यत्नी।।
जननी विश्वाची तू जीवन चिच्छक्ती।
शरण तुला मी आलो नुरवी आपत्ती।।१।।
गुरूवारी श्रध्देने उपास तव करिती।
आंबट कोणी काही अन्न न सेवीती।।
गूळ चण्याचा साधा प्रसाद भक्षीती।
मंगल व्हावे म्हणूनी कथा श्रवण करिती।।२।।
जे कोणी नरनारी व्रत तव आचरिती।
अनन्य भावे तुजला स्मरूनी प्रार्थती।।
त्याच्या हाकेला तू धावूनिया येसी ।
संतती वैभव कीर्ती धनदौलत देसी।।३।।
विश्वाधारे माते प्रसन्न तू व्हावे।
भवभय हरूनी आम्हा सदैव रक्षावे।।
मनीची इच्छा व्हावी परिपूर्ण सगळी।
म्हणूनी मिलिंद माधव आरती ओवाळी।।४।।