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IT IS a pleasant August evening in
Aurangabad Airport. As our Air India flight touches down the airport
we make our mind to visit Sai Dham first.
But as per our driver’s advice we
decide to visit Shani Shingnapur, as he tells us it is located en
route to Sai Dham.
We leave Aurangabad at around 6-30 in
the evening as the sun...
is ending its day-long journey.
Negotiating a relatively bumpy high
way, we reach the famous Shani Shingnapur village around 10 O’
clock.
We heard a lot about the village where
there are no doors and windows in the houses.
People here believe that the Shani God
is their protector and there can’t be any theft her.
The driver, who is a resident of the
village, tells us almost all the villagers are descendants of
Chatrapati Shivaji.
As we are already running against time,
we rush to the temple to offer our prayers. Even the residing deity
in the temple is standing in the open.
The people of this village are not
victims of bad habits. There are no signs of liquor, gambling and
non-vegetarianism. People haven’t heard of theft in the village.
The windows of the people’s minds are always open. They are very
hospitable to guests.
In this village of saints, God Shani is
the prime lord and God of everybody and everything. Windows, door
stoppers, chains, suitcases, latches, locks and the like are some of
the things that the locals are strangers to. Because, it is believed
here that it is the wish of God Shani himself that locks should not
be used. People here believe that the protection of their homes and
the village is rested with God Shani. They believe that God Shani
himself says, “You live with total peace of mind all day inside
your house and outside. Nothing bad will happen to you. I’ll
protect you and your homes.”
There are four famous legends about
Shanishingnapur. They are: “There is God, but no temple. There is a
home, but no door. There is a tree, but no shade. There is fear, but
no enemy.
God Shani of Shanishingnapur does not
want to live in the shadow of anything and accordingly there is no
roof above the divine idol of God Shani. In Shingnapur, whether it is
a time of rain, sun, cold or storm, without a roof, God Shani stands
here all the time by day and night and protects the people and
visitors of Shingnapur. Whenever the devotees here tried their best
to build a roof, they did not succeed. And whenever someone tried,
they faced some loss or the other. Therefore, God Shani gives
‘darshan’ to his devotees at all the times. There is no temple
there and there is no door. Thus, this place of worship is open all
the time.
People of Shingnapur said Shani came in
their dreams and told them that he did not need any roof at all.
Seeing the atmosphere here, it seems like there is a place of worship
with the divine presence.
There is a home, but no door
As the houses are without doors and
windows, there is no question of locks and latches. Whether inside
their homes or in their fields, the belongings of the people are
always in the open. They don’t keep any almirahs, suitcases or
boxes in the homes of people here.
So in Shingnapur and over 16 sq km
around it, 160 hectares of area have houses with no doors and
windows. Only to keep dogs and cats at bay, boxes are kept. Or,
curtains are hung.
There is a tree, but no shade
In the northern direction of God
Shani’s idol, there was a peeple tree, which was pulled down about
10 to 12 years back. Devotees who saw it say that when the branches
of the tree would grow long to come over the idol. But the branches
would get burnt to ashes. However, nobody was injured or suffered any
loss due to burning or breaking down of the branches. But the shade
of the tree never came on the idol.
People say about 20 to 30 years back,
one day lightening struck this neem tree at a time when a marriage
procession was going on next to it. Though nobody was injured, the
tree was burnt to its roots and it burnt for 12 hours. Efforts were
made to douse the fire but with no success. The to their shock found
the very next day that the tree was lush and full of greenery.
There is fear, but no enemy
In the fourth legend, God Shani has
been interpreted in a special way. Here God Shani is seen not as a
foe but as a friend. Shani teaches the people not to indulge in
theft, robbery, bad thoughts, debauchery, bad habits and falsehood.
They believe if one goes wrong, God Shani will punish accordingly. It
is because of fear that people do not keep the photos or anything
else about God Shani in their homes.
About the idol
When we visited the idol, there was not
much rush as the darshan for the temple was about to be closed for
that day. Still there were around 100-150 devotees pouring oil on the
idol.
The standing idol of God Shani is made
up of iron and stone with a height of 5 feet and 9 inches. The black
idol is exposed to heat, cold and rain in the open all day and night.
Yet there is no corrosion. It is learnt that some 350 years ago, in
Shingnapur village it rained cats and dogs. Flood water gushed into
the village. Along with the weeds flowing in the flood waters, the
stone statue of God Shani came flowing and got stuck in the branches
of the neighbouring tree. When the rains stopped and the floods
receded, the people came out of their huts. Following the floods,
that year there was a bumper crop and people were happy and content.
Prosperity visited the village. There was happiness in everybody’s
life.
During the flood, a huge boulder came
floating all the way till their village. But as they hit the boulder
with their sticks blood came trickling from the stone boulder.
Obviously the cowherds who found the boulder were worried and feared.
But there was no injury. Some of them fled. Abandoning their cattle,
they came running into the village.
Soon the news of the strange boulder
spread like a wild fire. They went to witness the divine phenomenon
in numbers. As night fell, they returned to their homes but none
except one Rajani Bela could sleep. Rajani God Shani appeared in that
dream and whatever God Shani talked to him is like this:
"Whatever you and the cowherds saw
yesterday is true."
" Who are you speaking?" said
the devotee.
" I am God Shani himself speaking.
Lift me from there. And install me in the village."
He told his fellow villagers about his
dream and the people were stunned. Upon hearing what he said, the
people took a bullock cart and went to the spot where the idol was
caught in the Berry tree. They tried to lift the stone idol and place
it in the cart, but barely manage to lift it an inch. They tried all
day, but without any success.
On the third say, God Shani appeared in
the dream of the same devotee and pronounced:
"Son, I'll move from that spot
only when the people who move me from there are of the real relation
of maternal uncle and nephew. These very people should place me on
the branches of the Berry tree. Those who ride the bullock cart
should be of black complexion and also should be of the relationship
of maternal uncle and nephew."
The devotee awoke and found that he was
dreaming. Next morning he told the villagers about his previous
night's dream. And the villagers did exactly as was told in the
dream. Then the statue was placed upon the branches of the cut Berry
tree. Finally, the statue was given its rightful place
('pran-pratishta') where it stands today. For days, the statue
remained on an ordinary foundation. The present day foundation was
not there then. There is story about this too.
There was a rich man in the village of
Sonai called Shri Jawahar Mal who was childless. One day he prayed to
God Shani that if he was blessed with a son, he would erect a
beautiful foundation there. And by the grace of God, Jawahar Mal was
soon blessed with a beautiful son and subsequently he constructed a
good foundation there in Shingnapur.
The devotees tried to shift the statue
to the newly constructed foundation for performing 'pran-pratishta'.
They started digging the ground to pull out the idol but were
unsuccessful. The deeper they dug, the more they saw of the statue.
One of the devotees had a vision of God Shani in which God Shani
said: "Only erect a foundation. Do not try to move me or lift
me."
Therefore, they built 3-feet foundation
on all the four sides of the idol. So, today, as much of the idol of
God Shani we see, that much of it is deep seated.
We were blessed to visit such a
wonderful village. We also interacted with the local people and were
overwhelmed by the depth of their faith on the Shani God. They have
total and unflinching faith on the god, their ultimate protector.
How to reach
Shinganapur is a village situated at a
distance of 6 kms from Ghodegaon on Aurangabad Ahmedanagar road in
Maharashtra.
The population of this village is about
3000.
State Transport buses ply regularly to
Shinganapur from Ahmednagar, Aurangabad.
By Road
The village is on Aurangabad-Ahmednagar
National Highway No 60.
By Train
Nearest railway stations are
Ahmednagar, Rahuri, Shrirampur and Belapur.
By Air
Aurangabad is the nearest airport. 
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