| Santoshi Mata | |
|---|---|
Goddess of satisfaction | |
.jpg) | |
| Devanagari | संतोषी माता |
| Affiliation | Devi |
| Abode | Svānandaloka |
| Mantra | Om shri santoshi mahamaye gajanandam dayini shukravara priye devi narayani namostute |
| Weapon | Sword, golden pot of rice and Trishula (trident) |
| Day | Friday |
| Mount | Tiger, cow or lotus |
| Texts | Jai Santoshi Maa (film) |
| Genealogy | |
| Siblings | Shubha/Kşema (brother) Labha (brother) |
Santoshi Mata (Hindi: संतोषी माता) or Santoshi Maa (संतोषी माँ) is a goddess, who is venerated as "the Mother of Happiness",[1] the meaning of her name. Santoshi Mata is particularly worshipped by women of North India and Nepal. A vrata (ritual fast) called the Santoshi Maa vrata is performed by women on 16 consecutive Fridays to win the goddess' favour.
Santoshi Maa existed before the bollywood film came, as per some sources. Her prayer initially spread through word of mouth, vrata-pamphlet literature, and poster art. Her vrata was gaining popularity with North Indian women. However, it was the 1975 Bollywood film Jai Santoshi Maa ("Victory to Santoshi Maa")—narrating the story of the goddess and her ardent devotee Satyavati—which propelled this then little-known "new" goddess to the heights of devotional fervour. With the rising popularity of the film, Santoshi Mata entered the pan-Indian Hindu pantheon and her images and shrines were incorporated in Hindu temples. While the film portrayed the goddess to be the daughter of the popular Hindu god Ganesha and related her to the Raksha Bandhan festival, it had no basis in Sanatan ( Hindu ) scriptures. She was a gramdevi and Kuladevi of some people in rajasthan (people claimed this on social media platforms ).