A strange settlement
By Suparna Saraswati Puri

ABOUT 75 km from Pune en route to Ahmednagar, enclosed in cane fields, is a small village called Shani Shignapur. So, what’s different about it? It is just another Indian rural settlement, isn’t it? Ahem! I’m afraid not.

Here, we have our country speeding all the way towards the millennium with its scientific and technological advancement being compared to the very best globally. And yet India and its people, tucked in some remote corners of its vast geographical expanse, have still got their roots deeply entrenched in Indian mythology one such place is a village where people for generations together, have lived life purely on the basis of security provided by an Indian myth. The strangeness of this settlement is borne out by the fact that no dwelling, kutcha or pucca has any doors or windows! Yes, actually, really, amazingly, all the houses are devoid of these two integral features of a house. So, do these houses

have only walls or holes, and what do they look like? Well, one just sees square open spaces where there would normally be a window and occasionally it is covered with some cloth. And the door? Just an open entrance of medium height at the front of the house.

It is believed that anyone who will make an attempt to steal in the village will become blind before he leaves the boundaries of the settlement. What is the reason for this belief? The presence of the Shani Dev who resides in the heart of the village in the form of a black stone pillar of about five-and-a-half feet jutting out from the surface of the earth at an angle. Several attempts were made to build a temple enclosing this holy shrine (pillar) but strangely no construction could ever be completed as each time an attempt was made a catastrophe would strike at the spot or the labour employed in the job would not survive. As a result the pillar remains uncovered and there is a temple just next to the shrine but obviously empty!

Shani Signapur draws masses from all over the country and the interiors of Maharashtra especially on Saturdays. Apparently, the planetary God (Shani) allows only its male devotees to perform the puja around its shrine. On a daily basis there is a policeman deputed to supervise the functioning of the shrine. Prior to fulfilling the obligatory rites, the male devotee is expected to cleanse himself by taking a ritualistic bath and then tying a saffron-coloured dhoti around his waist. He proceeds towards the holy sthamb carrying the puja basket which has in it besides a coconut, flowers, vermillian, incense sticks, a tiny packet of mustard oil, a dummy representation of Shani Dev made out of black cloth which is used as an auspicious symbol to ward off all evils. This normally is hung on the vehicle of the devotee or in the prayer room of his house. The contents of the basket are then offered at the shrine amidst chanting of the shani mantras by a priest. The oil is poured over the holy stone followed by the devotees’ silent prayers. The entire ceremony does not last more than two minutes. Meanwhile, what do the women dovotees do? It is a rare opportunity for them to become mute spectators to the whole affair. Since no woman young or old, is allowed within 10 to 15 feet of the periphery of the shrine, they simply satisfy themselves, once the puja is over, by applying a double-coloured (red and black) tilak on their horehead.

But, what about the authenticity regarding the whereabouts of this shrine? No one so far has been able to provide a reasonable explanation as to when and how this stone emerged. It is believed by one and all that it has been existing since the time of the creation of prithvi.

Moreover, what is of tremendous pride and significance to the locals is the fact that their blessed village has been chosen for housing the most powerful of planetary deities. Any harmless enquiry by a passing visitor regarding the history of the shrine is considered grossly blasphemous by the people of Shignapur.

However, as of now, the people of Shani Shignapur are living a harmoniously secure existence. All thanks to an age-old ‘brahmanical myth!