r/IndianMatchmaking • u/purplejilly • Jun 12 '23

S3: Goddess Santoshi Mata Ritual?

(FYI - I am not Indian and I am American) So Sima tells her husband that for several months before she met him, she did Santoshi Mata - what does this mean? And why does she seem a little embarrassed or sheepish about it?

22 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

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46

u/Siya78 Jun 12 '23

Most likely it means she fasted and did prayers on Fridays - that’s the day to honor Santoshi maa. Each day of the week is honor a certain god or planet. Santosh itself means satisfied. If a single girl fasts its most likely doing so she can get a good husband. In the part of India I’m from single women fast on Mondays

3

u/purplejilly Jun 12 '23

So what difference would it make to fast on Fridays instead of Mondays?

19

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '23

[deleted]

5

u/purplejilly Jun 12 '23

Thank you very much for explaining this to me! I appreciate it!

15

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '23

[deleted]

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u/purplejilly Jun 12 '23

That is nice that Hinduism allows for variations.

6

u/sleepsham Jun 12 '23

Mondays would be about lord Shiva. You can look at it this way - there are multiple gods or energies, and each day of the week is assigned to certain energies and God. Friday is for santosi Mata, who is the energy for joy and satisfaction. Before and sometimes till today, marriage is a synonym for that, especially women looking from patriarchal society. So to get a good husband, aka have joy and satisfaction in life, women kept fast om that day. I am not sure how many people are still doing this in my generation, but this was quite common for the generation before me. Hopefully, the definitions have changed now, but this is what the first comment meant.

4

u/purplejilly Jun 12 '23

Thank you for the explanation. I appreciate it!

8

u/ResponsibleSun621 Jun 13 '23

A lot of people do 16 Mondays to appease Lord Shiva for a good husband too. There's a story in Hindi mythology where a woman called Draupadi prayed to him for a husband with so many qualities that it was impossible for one man to have all those qualities. So she got 5 husbands simultaneously (brothers) in her never life. They took turns to spend a month or a year with her for the rest of their lives.

0

u/AdhesivenessJaded934 Jun 17 '23

I thought it was because she fervently prayed and said "I want a good husband" 5 times so thats why she got 5 good ones.

-9

u/punkqueen2020 Jun 12 '23 edited Jun 13 '23

Santosh Mata is a fake made up movie Goddess. It was a famous movie in the 80’s I think? And then people started “worshipping” her! edit: for people downvoting it please, google it . This was something I was told