Last Friday, I attended a santoshi mata puja at my neighbour.She had fasted on 16 Fridays. The Friday was the day of udyapan. She had invited eight young boys from the neighbourhood. They were all fed poori, choley, kheer and sweets. At the end of the feast she had small presents like pencil and eraser for all of them. Later on, my neighbour told me that she had kept the vrat since her husband's promotion was due at office. Soon after, her husband had recieved his promotion orders. She had continued her vrat for 16 Fridays and performed udyapan at the end.
Well, Santoshi mata puja is popular in my neighbourhood. Here is a brief account of the puja. Before the start of the Katha, fill a small kalash with water. On top of the kalash, you should keep a small bowl containing chana and gur. All ladies listening to the Katha should keep gur and chana in their hand. At the end of the katha, the gur and chana in the hand should be fed to the cow. The gur and chana kept on top of the kalash should be distributed as prasad amongst the gathering. After performing the arti, sprinkle drops of water from the kalash all around the house. Any water remaining in the kalash should be poured near a tulsi plant. There are many temples dedicated to Santoshi Mata in every city. Any temples in Delhi!
Yes, I believe there is a temple dedicated to Santoshi Mata in Pushp Vihar in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace w:st="on">South Delhi</st1lace>. It is called Prachin Santoshi Mata Mandir. Many people believe that Santhoshi Ma is the daughter of Lord Ganesha. Santoshi Ma stands for contentment, happiness and hope. Family values are especially dear to her. There are some rules of Udyapan. On the day of Udyapan, there should not be any sour item in the house.<?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /><v:shapetype id=_x0000_t75 stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" oreferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><vath o:connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t" o:extrusionok="f"></vath><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:shapetype><v:shape id=_x0000_s1026 style="MARGIN-TOP: -515.3pt; Z-INDEX: 1; MARGIN-LEFT: -90pt; WIDTH: 13.5pt; POSITION: absolute; HEIGHT: 13.5pt; mso-wrap-distance-left: 0; mso-wrap-distance-right: 0; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-vertical-relative: line" href="http://www.s-a-i.info/assoc_change/santoshi_mata.html##" o:button="t" o:allowoverlap="f" alt="Back to Top" type="#_x0000_t75"><v:imagedata o:title="top" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\abc\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image001.jpg"></v:imagedata><?xml:namespace prefix = w ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:word" /><w:wrap type="square"></w:wrap></v:shape>Children can come from the immediate family or from the neighbors. One should not give money to the children but can give gifts, as the children can buy sour items from that. The lady who is fasting should have the prasad and only one time meal.
A special thankyou to Shruti Rupa, Harleen and NitiSaini for stopping by. Yes, Ma Santoshi stands for contentment. The worship of Ma Santoshi got a big filip after the Bollywood hit movie called "Jai Ma Santoshi" especially during the late 1970s and early 80s. One of the important facet of Ma Santoshi Puja is the prohibition of sour food on Fridays. Thus, the housewife has to ensure that no sour food is cooked on Fridays during the vrat and even the children of the house are prohibited from doing so. During the Ujjapyan ceremony, the house wife has to ensure that the little boys have not taken any sour food on the day. That is why the little boys are not given any money after the ceremony so that they do not buy any sour food with the money. There are many in the buisness community who vouch for the puja. It also brings contentment or santosh in the lives of the housewife.
hello how are you shushma thx for replying i agree santosh ma got a big boost after the bollywood film, after maariage i was not with my hubby as he was out of india for almost 2 years i did the puja and touch wood i am with my hubby now thx to santosh maa JAI SANTOSH MATA KI regards shrutirupa
Hi, This is for all the ladies who wish to do their Santoshi Mata Vrat Udhyapan in Bangalore. There is a temple just besides Tata Indicom Showroom on 1st Main road of Sheshadri Puram. It opens at 5:30 pm in the evening. Its little difficult to locate the temple as it does not look like the usual temples and is located inside an apartment. There is a huge board outside the partment so that might help you to locate it. But they do udhyapan there according to vidhi like feeding 8 boys. They charge Rs 1100 for the udhyapan. Hope this helps all ladies like me who struggled a lot to find such temple in Bangalore.
My mother regularly observes Santoshi Ma vrat. She says that due to the blessings of the Devi, the family enjoys good health and is well settled in life. Jai Ma santoshi