Worshipping Sanjhi Mata: How Malwa’s suburbs celebrate age-old festival of faith, craft

Sanjhi Mata is a folk deity, originating in ancient oral traditions and Radha Krishan’s divine lila. Folk mythology contains stories of Lord Krishana creating a beautiful image of Radha with flowers at twilight or ‘Sandhya’ to please her, thus getting the name Sanjh, meaning evening.

Sanjhi Mata is also considered the daughter of Brahma, who was worshiped by unmarried girls for boons like a good husband and prosperous life after marriage.

Starting with a brief practice of worshipping Sanjhi by unmarried girls at homes it evolved into a temple tradition, often performed by trained priests during the period of Vallabhacharya sect and Bhakti Movement in 15th and 16th centuries.

In Punjab, Sanjhi is worshipped during Navratri and immersed in water bodies on Dasehra, the goddess is considered an embodiment of peace and prosperity.

While the practice has almost vanished from metropolises, a section of the suburban population in this part of the Malwa region is trying to keep the old tradition of worshipping Sanjhi Mata alive.

The tradition is also known for promoting art, astronomy and knowledge about relationships in the patriarchal society.

While the older daughters in most families continue to make images of Sanjhi Mata, besides animate and inanimate objects with mud, others prefer purchasing ready-made idols from markets.

Nidhi Narad, who has been installing Sanjhi Mata’s idol at her home for over four decades now, regretted that people had started undermining the importance of following traditions in the name of modernity.

“Besides being related to religion, the tradition of preparing clay models of various parts of Sanjhi, cosmic bodies and items of daily use enhances craftsmanship, creativity and knowledge,” said Narad.

The image of Sanjhi is designed on the first day of the nine days of Navratri and installed on a wall. Cow-dung is used as the base, while coloured cotton and paper is used to decorate the system.

Every evening women and children from the neighbourhood are invited to sing bhajans and perform aarti. The lyrics of the aarti are believed to highlight the importance of various components, including body parts, ornaments adoring them and heavenly bodies.

Madhuri Gautam lamented that some people had started worshipping Sanjhi Mata through the medium of calendars and posters. “The gesture of inviting neighbours and distributing sweets as parsad help perpetuate the tradition even if only one family in the mohalla installs Sanjhi,” said Gautam.

Sanjhi festival concludes with the immersion of various components of the idols in water bodies on the morning of Dasehra.