Recently Sanjay Dutt, the famous bollywood star visited the “Shingnapur Shani Temple”. He has been facing the legal problems from sometime and had to stay in jail. He visited the temple to pray for getting relieved from his problems. Now here below is about the “Shingnapur Shani Temple” where the temple is without a roof & the villagers of Shingnapur have their houses without doors and without any glass panes on the windows.
In today’s scientific world, the inexplicable events of God Shani in Shingnapur in Maharashtra state of India leave his devotees bewildered. No matter how much staunch an atheist one is, in the presence of Shani, one’s head automatically bows in reverence. Though there are many sacred places in Maharashtra devoted to God Shani, Shingnapur holds a unique significance. Shingnapur is situated on the Pune-Aurangabad Highway, about 70 kms far from Shirdi. Its unusual qualities make it a distinct place of pilgrimage any where in the world; one can realize it only after a personal visit.
Over here women are not allowed to worship the deity. Women are not allowed to touch the deity but they can have darshan from some distance.
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God without a dwelling:
The swayambhu (natural-formed) idol of Lord Shani is of a natural black color. Standing eternally open on an altar for around 150 years, it is 5'-9" high and 1'-6" broad. Lord Shani never accepts any chhatra (shelter). This abode of Shani Dev is a massive roofless structure built on a square platform. It is open from all sides. This can well be witnessed as even in hot sun, whirlwind, rain, heat or cold, whatever the weather the deity stands here without a shelter. Many people in the past and even in the present have tried to raise a temple for the deity but in vain. "Lord Shani has invariably appeared in the dreams telling them, ‘I do not need any shelter’. He prefers to stay in the open and protects his devotees", believes a member of the Trust. It is an irony that even though Shingnapur is a very popular and important place of pilgrimage, it has to date no temple to house the unusual deity and to enhance its beauty.
Village having houses without doors:
Shingnapur, a sleepy village of around 3000 people, has no doors and no glass panes on the windows of the local houses. One uses either wooden planks or curtains on the doors just to ward off stray animals. The practice of bolting or locking the houses is conspicuous by its absence. And this all is reportedly done at the "command of Lord Shani". No theft ever occurs here, as the Lord Shani, the guardian deity of the village is always there to mete out instant punishment” so claim the residents of Shani-Shinganapur and this claim has become its claim to fame.
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As per the villagers: "We don’t find this practice strange anyway. We have been doing it for thousands of years. We keep our money and valuables in a bag or a box; they are never stolen. Even the devotees who come here for darshan are told not to lock their vehicles. There are no thieves. If anyone steals he will have to pay for his misdeed by the miracle of God Shani."
