SARATOGA (NEW YORK), THE SANSKRIT CONNECTION

SARATOGA (NEW YORK), THE SANSKRIT CONNECTION AND ABOUT CALISTOGA IN CALIFORNIA

The city of Saratoga in New York is nown for healing mineral springs. Its name ‘Saratoga’ is believed to be a corruption of a Native American word in Mowahk language meaning ‘water springs’.

Lets then look at words sounding similar to Saratoga in Sanskrit i.e the cognates of Saratoga. ‘Sara’ (सर) of course means ‘spring’ or ‘brook’ in Sanskrit. For example, there is a city by the name Amritsara in India, the meaning is ‘nectar spring’.

So what do a couple of cognates of ‘Saratoga’ mean in Sanskrit:

1. Sara-Toja: ‘Sara’ (सर) means ‘spring’ or ‘brook’, ‘toja’ (तोज) means ‘water. Saratoja (सर-तोज) therefore means Spring-Water in Sanskrit – the same as it does in Mowahk.

2. Sara-Tosha: ‘Sara’ (सर) means ‘spring’and ‘tosha’ (तोष) means ‘joy’. Sara-Tosha (सर-तोष) therefore means ‘Spring of Joy’.

It is sometimes said that Saratoga is a distortion of ‘Se-rach-ta-gue’ which means ‘the hillside country of the quiet river.’ In Sanskrit ‘Saruch’ (सरुच्) means magnificent, ‘tad’ (ताड) is mountain, ‘go’ (गो) is water. ‘Shakura’ (शकुर) is quiet. ‘Serach-ta-gue’ may itself have been derived from a combination of these Sanskrit words.

Update: Calistoga, California has an accidental connection to Saratoga. Calistoga got its name when the publisher of the first English language newspaper in California, millionaire Samuel Brannan fascinated by Calistoga’s natural hot springs, purchased more than 2,000 acres of land with the intent to develop a spa reminiscent of Saratoga Springs in New York. Intending to state “I’ll make this place the Saratoga of California,” he accidentally transposed the words and said, “I will make this place the Calistoga of Sarifornia”. Thus the place names Saratoga and Calistoga indirectly have the same origins.

Calistoga has an accidental
connection to Saratoga. ‘Sara’ (सर) Sanskrit for
‘spring’, and ‘toja’ (तोज) meaning ‘water’.