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Maa Santoshi

Yaa Devi Sarvabhutesu, Santoshi Rupena Samsthitaa, Namastasyei Namastasyei, Namastasyei Namo Namaha..  



Yaa Devi Sarvabhutesu
Santoshi Rupena Samsthitaa

Namastasyei Namastasyei
Namastasyei Namo Namaha

Encyclopedia  Santoshi Mata

Santoshi Mata, meaning the mother of contentment, is a relatively recent Hindu female divinity. She belongs to the family of Shiva and Parvati, and is the daughter of Ganesha and his wife Riddhi. She can be benevolent as well as awesome.She emerged as a deity during late 1950s and early 1960s, and is particularly worshipped by women of North India.

Santoshi Ma: The Goddess Through Popular Film

In the early 1960s, the Goddess Santoshi Ma, previously unheard of, came onto the scene. Although no one knew where she had come from and and there was no oral tradition surrounding her, she began to command attention. (Kathleen Erndl, Victory to The Mother) Several temples were built in her honor and in 1975, she manifested in a Hindi-language film, Jai Santoshi Ma. With the spectacular success of the film, Santoshi Ma became a major religious figure practically overnight. Today, she is thoroughly integrated into the pantheon of Hindu gods and goddesses.

Santoshi Ma has emerged within the lifetimes of many of her devotees. So, an outsider might call her a new goddess, a pop culture sensation legitimized by her acceptance into the more institutionalized forms of worship. But, Indians themselves would disagree. Although she has her own history as the daughter of Ganesha, Santoshi Ma is not considered new or even separate from the other Hindu goddesses. According to devotees Santoshi Ma has always existed. The popular movie which brought her to stardom can be understood as just another one of her worldly manifestations.

Most devotees do not believe in any essential difference between Santoshi Ma and other Hindu goddesses, such as Parvati, Kali, Durga or Lakshmi. They are all manifestations of the same great Goddess, the same divine female energy. Perhaps for this reason, Hindus may call images that appear to be Durga or Vaisno Devi by the name "Santoshi Ma" and she is viewed as virtually interchangeable with the goddess Sheranvali. Both Santoshi Ma and Sheranvali are frequently called upon during Jagran (jagratas) - all-night devotional festivals where the goddesses frequently possess and act through human mediums.
Even the plot of "Jai Santoshi Ma" asserts this idea that all of the Goddesses are one or at least that there is no conflict in worshipping all at once. The screen play departed from the popular myth surrounding Santoshi Ma. It created a dispute between her and three traditional Hindu goddesses - Laksmi, Parvati and Brahmani. However, in the end, it is revealed that these "older" goddesses were just testing their devotees; since Santoshi is their granddaughter and she is one of them, the dispute and the fighting were only in jest.

माँ संतोषी के देवी स्वरुप की जानकारी और खुली चर्चा के लिए देखिये माता का ब्लॉग http://masantoshi.blogspot.com/