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Thali

Every Friday

Friday fast for Santoshi Mata

Devotees of Santoshi Mata fast on Fridays, offer jaggery and roasted chickpeas, and eat nothing sour.

Shree Santoshi Mata idol
Photo: Nishu0246, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is eaten for Friday fast for Santoshi Mata

Many Hindu women in north India keep a Friday fast for Santoshi Mata, the goddess of contentment, often for sixteen Fridays. The offering is simple and cheap: jaggery and roasted chickpeas, which are then shared as prasad. One meal is eaten in the day. The one firm rule is that nothing sour may be eaten or served, so there is no yoghurt, lemon, tamarind or pickle. At the end of the vow children are fed a meal of puri, kheer and chickpeas.

The dishes

KheerServed to children when the vow is complete.PuriFried bread for the closing meal.

Also part of it, and being written: Jaggery (Offered with roasted chickpeas and shared.), Chickpea (Roasted chana, the other half of the offering.).

About this page

Written by the Thali desk with AI assistance. Background: "Santoshi Mata" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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