Shani Shingnapur Village: Shani Shingnapur is a village in the Indian state of Maharashtra, situated in the Nevasa taluka in the Ahmednagar district. The village is famous for its Shani temple- the god associated with the planet Saturn, which is visited by around 40,000 pilgrims every day.
What's strange about this place is that the houses of the village have no doors and the people believe that they are protected by the lord Shani of the temple.
The houses in this village have no doors but only door frames as the place has never been reported with any theft cases. People also say that whoever tries to do any criminal activity like theft or robbery gets punished with Sade-Sati (A cursed period for seven and half years) by lord Shani.
This curse is believed to be given by lord Shani himself, who protects the village from outsiders and thieves.
Legend says that nearly 400 years ago, a black stone landed on the banks of the Peninsular river. When a local shepherd stabbed a sharp rod in the slab, blood started to ooze out from it.
Later on that night, Lord Shani appeared in the dreams of the shepherd and described that the stone he stabbed was an idol of me. The shepherd then asked for forgiveness and asked to compensate by making a temple in the village.
Then Lord Shani refused the proposal and said that he want to be placed at the heart of the village so that he could protect the village, and that was exactly what the shepherd did.
After this, the whole village placed the idol in the centre, and from that day onwards, the people of the village started to worship the lord and were in believe that the lord is always there to protect them.
This belief in the god was so hyped up in the village of Shani Shingnapur that people stopped even taking care of their gold and documents.
The no-door policy has now become an issue as people also get to know about some unregistered cases of theft in Shani Shingnapur. Now the village is promoting safety measures by itself to ensure their security.
This village of Maharashtra is surely one of the places to visit for the believers of gods and to know about their incredible legends.