Shani Dev’s day Shanivar
The ruler of planet Saturn is Shani Dev and Saturday is dedicated to him as Shanivar. In Northern India, you would find many young boys carrying a piece of iron, dipped in mustard oil and asking for donations on saturdays. In South India, people would visit a Navagraha Sannidhi. In certain temples in South India you have a separate place of worship for the nine planets.
Shani Dev also has a dedicated temple for himself at Shani Shinganapur, 35 kms from Ahmed Nagar. The special thing about Shani Shinganapur is that no house is locked and there has been no crime reported in this village ever. That’s the power of Shani Dev ! Every Shanivar, devotees throng to his temple in Shani Shinganapur. My parents visited Shani Shinganapur along with my cousin’s family.
Shani Dev and Hanuman
Lankeshwar Ravana had managed to capture all the devas and the planets using the boons that he got from Brahma and Shiva. Ravana was also a great astrologer and tried to ensure that his son Meghnad’s horoscope was fixed in such a way that he would never die. When Shani Dev tried to stop him from doing that, Ravana captured him and put him into a dark cell so that no one would see him.
When Hanuman went to Lanka in search of Ma Sita, he heard someone calling out to him. He found Shani Dev and released him from the dark cell. So praying to Hanuman helps one to be safe from Shani Dev’s effect. Several people also pray to Hanuman on Shanivar for this reason.
Here is Hanuman from Peelamedu, Coimbatore –
The colour associated with Shani Dev is black or dark blue. Today I wore a black Patteda Anchu Saree which is a revival weave from Punarjeevana. I had written about it earlier – Two firsts and a renewed “Handloom” love.
Shani Dev – The God of Justice
Shani Dev is the elder brother of Yama Dharmaraja, the God of death. Shani Dev delivers justice when a person is alive and Yama delivers justice after death. Shani Dev believes in strictness and discipline. He is the strict teacher and a judge. He teaches important life lessons and always delivers justice, that’s why he is feared. He upholds Dharma !
Continue being on your path of dharma, and Shani Dev doesn’t bother you. Shani Dev nudges you towards spirituality and the right path by giving you challenges and troubles.
Anugraha
A beautiful incident from Kanchi Kamakoti Mahaperiyava’s life. An astrologer had told a devotee of Mahaperiyava, that all the “grahas” (planets) were not working in his favour. The devotee tearfully relayed this information to Mahaperiyava and in his inimitable style, Mahaperiyava chuckled and said… “all the nine planets are not favourable to you, is it ? Have you heard of the 10th planet?”
The devotee was perplexed and said that he hadn’t heard of the 10th planet. Mahaperiyava said to him, “the 10th planet is Anugraha, which is Bhagwan’s blessings. So long as Bhagwan’s Anugraha is working, the nine planets can’t harm you”.
May Bhagwan’s Anugraha be on all of us ….
Black and dark blue colours of sarees mostly suiting all women. You look well in this saree
Thanks 🙂