Main to aarti utaaroon re Santoshi maata ki
Posted on: August 18, 2013
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Singer Usha Deenanath Mangeshkar completed a century of songs recently, on 15th August 2013 on this Blog.
Congratulations,Usha ji !
How does it feel like, losing one’s identity and getting known as sister of , not One but Two Celebrities ?
For Usha Mangeshkar this is no more a tag problem because after more than 400 films and over 600 songs in a span of 60+ years,she has earned her own place amongst the female singers of Repute !
Born on the 15th December 1935,at Sangli,Usha is the 4th and the youngest sister of Mangeshkars. The line up is very regular-exactly 2 year’s difference in the ages of the siblings-
Lata born in 1929
Meena born in 1931
Asha born in 1933
Usha born in 1935
Hridaynath born in 1937
When master Deenanath died in 1942, Lata, all of 13 years, had to act and sing in films to earn money for the family. Meena,not so keen on singing chose to stay at home and look after the Mother and young Usha and Hridaynath. Asha joined her sister in acting, singing and earning money for the family. Usha was just 7 year old, so she too remained at home. Besides singing, she was interested in Painting, so she took lessons from the famous painter of those days,M.R.Achrekar. In addition,she also continued learning Music from Pt.Tulsidas Sharma, K. Mahavir and Sushant maharaj.
When Asha left suddenly and went away-in 1948- with Ganpatrao Bhonsle, twice her age, the family got a terrible jolt. The financial responsibility now fell only on Lata Mangeshkar. At the age of 19 years, Usha decided to start earning herself by singing in films and C.Ramchandra gave her the break with a song ” Bhabhi aayee” from ‘Subah ka Tara’-1954. Her very first song became so popular that she was flooded with children’s song offers. Her next popular song was’ Aplam chaplam’ from Azaad, also by C.Ramchandra.
Thus started her journey of film singing. It is to the credit to her sisters,Lata and Asha that they sang duets with her in plenty. In fact for Usha Mangeshkar, her solo songs are not even half of her duets in the career. By 1970, Usha was well known as a singer by her efforts.
In 1975, came the biggest hit song of her career. It was ” Main to aarti utaaroon re” from film JAI SANTOSHI MAA-1975. Written by kavi Pradeep and set to tune by MD C.Arjun. This and other songs of this film sung by Usha, became a rage and till today they are the most popular ones.
produced by shri Satram Rohera,a producer/Director,who was in trouble after his maiden venture ” Rocky mera naam”-73 bombed miserably. Bringing together a team of not so popular actors,director and MD,he produced a low budget film ” JAI SANTOSHI MAA”-in 1975. With this film making history of success his luck changed so much that,I am sure,he must have done the Santoshi Mata Vrat all through his life !
The success of this film also brought accolades to its MD, C. Arjun and Usha Mangeshkar not only got ‘The best Playback singer’s award from Bengal Film Journalists Association,but got a nomination for Film fare award also .
After this film,there was no looking back for her. She was the choice for Item songs like ‘Mungda” etc always. Another achievement for her was her foray into Marathi film singing. She was the most favourite singer of Dada Kondke for all his Jubilee films and all her songs became popular too. She must have sung at least 200 songs in Marathi.
By 1957, Meena got married. Asha was also away again,first with O P Nayyar and then with R D Burman. Usha had to look after Mai, their old mother and her younger brother Hridaynath, managing the entire Mangeshkar family and household. In all this there was no time to get married. Like her eldest sister, Usha also remained Unmarried.
Despite singing so many songs in so many films, Usha NEVER got any Filmfare award for her Hindi songs. For her Marathi songs,of course she got many honours and awards.
The voice of Usha is totally different from Lata or Asha. It is tilting towards shrillness, a sharp, a high pitch voice which has a strange attraction power.
From 1954 onward,she carried two heavy burdens- one that of looking after their old mother and the entire family and Two,a permanent stamp of “sister of Lata /Asha”. But she is not complaining. She says-‘It is an honour for me to be recognised as Lata and Asha’s sister. They are the icons in Hindi film industry. Comparatively my contribution is nothing. Further I prefer remaining in the background only.’
With Usha looking after their homes, the Mangeshkar family members have no worry of the home and can concentrate on their work freely.
Usha could not do justice to her Painting. However, some of her Paintings were showcased in some Art galleries a few times.
Usha is nearing 80 years now. She is not very active, but we will always remember her famous songs from films like, Rajhath, Main nashe mein hoon, Guest House, Grihasthi, Mera qasur kya hai, Chitralekha, Dus lakh, Pyar kiye jaa(O meri Maina), Pyar Muhabbat, Taqdeer, Beti, jeene ki raah, Khatta Meetha, Shaan, Shama etc.
Usha mangeshkar produced 2 Marathi films and gave music to one of them.She has sung songs in Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Bhojpuri ,Gujrati, Asamese, odiya, Bangla, Telugu, Tamil etc.
My Salute to Usha Mangeshkar,who epitomises the true Indian woman-sacrificing for the family,looking after Home and when needed,earning for family.
Here is a song which practically took her to the top of her singing career- ” Main to aarti utarun re Santoshi mata ki” from film ‘ Jai Santoshi mata’-1975. Enjoy….
Video – Picturized Part I
Video – Picturized Part II (same lyrics)
Song-Main to aarti utaaroon re Santoshi maata ki (Jai Santoshi Maa)(1975) Singer-Usha Mangeshkar, Lyrics-Pradeep, MD-C Arjun
Chorus
Lyrics
Main toh aarti utaaroon re
Santoshi maata ki
ho main toh aarti utaroon re
Santoshi maata kee
main toh aarti utaaroon re
Jai jai Santoshi maata
jai jai maa
Jai jai Santoshi maata
jai jai maa
Jai jai Santoshi maata
jai jai maa
Jai jai Santoshi maata
jai jai maa
Badi mamta hai bada pyaar
Maa ki aankhon mein
Ma ki aankhon mein
Badi karuna maaya dulaar
Ma ki aankhon mein
Ma ki aankhon mein
kyun na dekhoon main baarambaar
Maa ki aankhon mein
Kyun na dekhoon main baarambaar
Ma ki aankhon mein
dikhe har ghadi
dikhe har ghadi
naya chamatkaar
Ma ki aankhon mein
Ma ki aankhon mein
Ho nritya karoom jhhoom jhhoom
Jham jhamajham jhoom jhoom
nritya karoon jhhoom jhhoom
Jham jhamajham jhoom jhoom
Jhankee niharoon re
O baanki baanki jhankee niharoon re
Main toh aarti utaroon re
Santoshi mata kee
Main toh aarti utaaroon re
Jai jai Santoshi maata jai jai ma
Jai jai Santoshi maata jai jai ma
Jai jai Santoshi maata jai jai ma
Jai jai Santoshi maata jai jai ma
Sada hoti hai jai jaikaar
Ma ke mandir mein
Ma ke mandir mein
Nit jhaanjhar ki hoye jhankaar
Ma ke mandir mein
Ma ke mandir mein
sada manjeere karte pukaar
Ma ke mandir mein
sada manjeere karte pukaar
Ma ke mandir mein
vardaanon ke,
vardaanon ke
bhare hain bhandaar
Ma ke mandir mein
Ma ke mandir mein
ho deep dharoon dhoop karoon
Prem sahit bhaktee karu
deep dharoon dhoop karoon
Prem sahit bhakti karoon
Jivan sudharu re
ho pyaara pyaara jeevan sudhaaroon re
Main toh aaratee utaroon re
Santoshi maata kee
Main toh aarti utaaroon re
Jai jai Santoshi maata jai jai ma
Jai jai Santoshi maata jai jai ma
Jai jai Santoshi maata jai jai ma
Jai jai Santoshi maata jai jai ma
2 Responses to "Main to aarti utaaroon re Santoshi maata ki"
August 18, 2013 at 10:45 pm
hey atul
i have been regularly sending you the lyrics of this (my favourite )arati since last years Navaratri
good that it is here finally
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
August 18, 2013 at 9:25 pm
The film deserves this kind of debut !!
@ thanks AD sir for this beautiful article on Usha Mangeshkar ji.
I too salute her for sacrifices she has done for the family, and looked after Home and when needed do the earning for her family.
What she has done is really inspirational for us.
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