Santoshi Mata (Hindi: संतोषी माता) or Santoshi Maa (संतोषी माँ) is a Hindu goddess, who is venerated as "the Mother of Satisfaction",[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 performed by women on 16 consecutive Fridays wins the goddess' favour.
Santoshi Mata (Hindi: संतोषी माता) or Santoshi Maa (संतोषी माँ) is a Hindu goddess, who is venerated as "the Mother of Satisfaction",[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 performed by women on 16 consecutive Fridays wins the goddess' favour.
Santoshi Mata was first worshipped in the 1960s by women in Uttar Pradesh and has no base in any Puranic myth, according to Wendy Doniger's The Hindus. Only five temples, located at widely separated sites, were dedicated to this local goddess and she was known mainly through vratkathas (literally, stories of a fast).
he 1975 film Jai Santoshi Maa elevated Santoshi Mata, a little-known "new" goddess to the pan-Indian Hindu pantheon. [2][3] The screenings of the film were accompanied by religious rituals by the audience.
Some of the audience entered the theatre barefoot, as in a Hindu temple, and small shrines and temples dedicated to the goddess, started springing up all over North India.[3]
The film attained cult status and years after its release, special matinee Friday screenings were organized for women, who observed the goddess' Friday vrata (ritual fast) and engaged in her worship.
The success of this low-budget film and media reports of the "sudden emergence of a modern celluloid goddess" resulted in scholarly interest in Santoshi Mata.[3]