He is considered as one of the Navagraha, which means he is one of the cosmic influencer on the beings who are living on Earth. He is considered as one of the most popular of deities or Gods, and is usually worshipped to ward off any kind of evil effect from their lives or to remove any kind of obstacles, that a person may be having, or might have in the future. The word Shani literally means the seventh day of the week, which is Saturday as per the Indian languages, it originates from “SanayeKramatiSah” which means “The One That Moves Slowly”, and it is relevant to Saturn which takes about thirty years to complete its revolution around the sun. As per the ethos and the legends, Shani is considered as the Deva, which is a Sanskrit word and it means ‘Deity’. In Hinduism the word basically denotes to the one who is a generous supernatural being, and it is mythological belief that Shani Deva is the son of Surya, who is the chief of solar deity and generally refers to Sun who is also considered to be one of the Gods. Apart from that, Shani Deva’s mother is Chaya, which means shadow or the shade, hence she is the Goddess of shadow and is considered to be the companion of Surya, the God of Sun. Hence being the son of Chaya, he is also sometimes referred as Chayaputra, which means the son of Chaya. If you look at the idol of Shani Deva, it is mostly dark on colour and that is because Shani Deva is perceived to be very dark on complexion. There are many stories that evolve around Shani Deva, like the stories about his evil influences, and he is believed to be the one who had chopped off the head of Lord Ganesha, who as per the mythological believes is the son of Lord Shiva. Also he that is Shani Deva is lame and also has a limp, and this is because as per the stories one of his knees was injured, when he had a tussle with Yama, who is the God of death and is also the his brother. He is seen in the mythological records he is said to be riding on a chariot which is drawn by the bird vulture, and always carries a bow and an arrow with him. He is also found wearing clothes that are blue in colour and also wears blue flowers and sapphire. The other names of Shani Deva are: · Saura which stands for Son of Sun God · Kruradris or even Kruralochana which means The Cruel Eyed · Mandu which means Dull and Slow · Pangu which means Disabled · Saptarchi which means The Seven Eyed, and · Asita which mean dark If you are a Shani Deva worshipper, then you will know that it is considered to be very auspicious to visit the eight Shani Temples and when you offer your God with his favourite items which are as follows: Oil Black Cloth Black seeds and many such things Also, these are the auspicious Shani Temples that any ShaniBhakt would find himself as fortunate to have been able to visit: · Thirunallar Shree ShanaishcharaKoil – You will find clusters of nine temples or shrines dedicated to the Navagrahas, one of those clusters is located near the town Kumbakonam which is located in the state of Tamil Nadu, and Lord Shani’s temple in this cluster is found in Tirunallar. · ShaniDevaalayam in Deonar – The name of this temple is Shree Saneshwara Temple and is situated in the Mumbai-Pune-Banglore Eastern Express Highway. · ShaniShingnapur – Located in Maharashtra, one of the states in India, this Shani temple is located half way between Shirdi and Aurangabad.
