Religion and Arts
Goddess Santoshi Maa is characterized as the goddess of hope, due to the support she offers those who worship her. Due to that reason she has been able to gain worshippers, who look up to her, for assistance in times of need. Santoshi Maa is not also compared to other God’s due to her golden heart, thus making her to assist those who are need (Satram, n.p). She therefore possesses the following character traits, she is loving, caring and supportive to those who worship her, and this will be later on explained in this paper. Other than that, Santoshi Maa is different from the other gods, and her mode of dressing, gesture, posture, demeanour and paraphanerlia are different from the rest. She is unique in her own making, a factor which distinguishes her greatly from the other gods.
Goddess Santoshi Maa dresses up in Sari’s with less chains and bungles as compared to other goddesses. Her golden necklaces are much more less as compared to that of the other goddesses. She wears a bigger crown, which resembles that of a queen. Her eyes are coloured with red colours. On her right hand she holds a sword, and on her left hand she holds a spear. She possess while sitting down, with her legs crossed. On the other side of her left leg is a cup full of food, which symbolises care. The sword on her right hand and the spear on her left hand symbolize peace, since she is ready to fight for her worshippers, thus keeping them away from any form of trouble. Finally, she is kind and loving, a factor which makes her to support and provide assistance to Satyawati, after her husband Birju was attacked by goddesses Durga and Maya (Satram, n.p). In sum, Santoshi Maa was more like a mother who provided support to her followers, and would therefore do everything to protect her followers from any forms of attack from Durga or Maya.
Santoshi Maa was worshipped in different ways by her worshipper, with Satyawati being her chief worshipper. Satyawati consequently praised Santoshi Maa through singing praises, which portrayed the goddess as powerful, merciful and glorious. Through singing praises to Santoshi Maa, Satyawati became very close to Santoshi Maa, hence she provided any form of assistance whenever Satyawati was in problems. On the other hand, whenever Santoshi Maa became mad and decided to punish people, Satyawati would ask her not to punish the people, and Santoshi Maa would listen and stop punishing the people (Satram, n.p). In addition, due to the fact that Satyawati followed Santoshi Maa, she became rich, got a good husband back and she also got the life which she had yearned for. Satyawati’s trust and commitment to Santoshi Maa paid off, because Santoshi Maa was a loving goddess, who would do everything to see those who worship her living happily ever after. Through the praises, Satyawati communicated with Santoshi Maa, making it easier for her to maintain a close relationship with the goddess, hence being able to achieve more, due to the power which Santoshi Maa possessed.
Indeed Santoshi Maa was powerful, loving and caring, and this became evident through the way she loved her chief worshipper. The movie also shows how Santoshi Maa never left Satyawati alone in times of need, because she provide Satyawati with assistance, even after the other goddesses had convinced Birju’s relatives that Birju was dead, she brought him back, making Satyawati to rejoice and thank her for she had brought the love of her life back (Satram, n.p). In addition, to singing songs of praises to Santoshi Maa, Satyawati had faith in Santoshi Maa, a factor which made Santoshi Maa to always deliver, whenever Satyawati asked anything from Santoshi Maa.
The film Santoshi Maa was basically a religious film, which aimed at encouraging people to worship their goddess, and to also have faith in her. In so doing, their goddess would pay back with good things. This was what the character Santoshi Maa portrayed, making most Indians to be attracted to the character. Due to the way goddess Santoshi Maa supported and cared for Satyawati, it became evident that the powerful, loving caring, mother, and merciful goddess, would also do great things to other people, if they also believed and trusted in the goddess. This therefore made most people to fall in love with the attributes of Santoshi Maa, making it easier for them to be able to worship her, so that they may also be blessed (Plate, 183). On the other hand, since the story of goddess Santoshi Maa was a mythical story, most people believed through the movie, that indeed goddess Santoshi Maa existed, and just as she supported Satyawati, she would also support them if they worshipped and had faith in her. Hence, this led to Goddess Santoshi Maa’s rising to popularity, because people wanted to see the miracles which she could perform, and if she could indeed perform the same miracles to them.
Work Cited
Satram, Rohera. Jai Santoshi Maa. 2006. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmqZfNSOqUE
Plate, S.Brent. Religion, Art, and Visual Culture: A Cross-Cultural Reader. New York [u.a.: Palgrave, 2002. Print.
