Village with no doors. (Shani Shingnapur)

Shani Shingnapur village near Shirdi is a very interesting place - all houses and buildings here are without any doors. The residents are devotee of Shani God and believes that he protects them.
Shani Shingnapur village in Maharashtra (70 km from Shirdi, 90 km from Aurangabad) is one of the most popular pilgrim sites in the country. The presiding deity here is Shanideva, the personification of the planet Saturn. Thousands throng here everyday to pay their respects to the Lord.

However, what makes this village so unique is the fact that no houses have doors and windows. They don’t use locks to protect their valuables either. This strange belief of the residents is based on the unshakable belief that Lord Shanideva himself keeps an eye on their money. People are discouraged from using normal safety mechanisms like latches, windows and doors.

No Robbery in 150 years:-
Villagers claim that there has never been a theft or robbery here in the last 150 years. The ones who attempt a robbery are punished by the deity in one way or the other. Either they go blind or some misfortune befalls them. Items stolen always return to their rightful owner in some way or the other.

Legend behind this story
As the legend goes, years ago a black rock was found among the debris brought by a violent flood. Its mysterious texture and appearance surprised villagers. What was more shocking was that blood oozed out of the rock when poked and probed with sticks. They were mystified by its texture and overall look and were even more surprised to find that the rock bled after being poked and probed with sticks.
Fear transformed into wonder when people started having dreams that connected the rock to Lord Shani. In these dreams, instructions were given to build an open-roof shrine for the deity.
For most tourists, this temple is a holy pilgrimage. For others, visiting a village with no doors and windows is a unique experience. In either case, it figures on the list of must-see places in India.

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.
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.
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."

Faith and fear have a unique manifestation in Kendrapada's Sialia village. The houses in this coastal village do not have any doors nor locks. This fact is true to even the primary school and anganwadi centre built last year.
The 1200 people living in Sialia fix only door frames but no doors. Even their safety lockers does not have lock because they believe that the village deity, Ma Kharakhai, guards the houses. So strong is the faith that no one attempts theft for fear of incurring the goddess's wrath upon himself and his family.

Villagers claim that there has been no theft in the village since the deity's temple was built in the village 250 years ago. "We depend upon the villagers to prevent crimes and so avoid using doors, windows and even locks," said Babaji Nayak, a villager.
Many families also go away on pilgrimages but their possessions are always safe, said Sarat Sahoo, a villager. But the absence doors leads to some problems. Cats and dogs and sometimes cattle stray into the houses. At times, a small moveable partition is positioned across the opening to prevent bigger animals from entering the houses but cats can easily enter, said Banshidhar Sethi, another villager.
"Whenever someone has attempted to build doors, calamity has befallen them. About 50 years ago, Jadunath Sahoo, a trader constructed a house with doors ignoring the village tradition. Soon a crocodile killed him while he was bathing in the river," Satrughan Jena , a villager, who is in his 80s.


Shani Shingnapur, also known as Sonai, is a village in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated in Nevasa taluka in Ahmadnagar district, the village is known for its popular temple of Shani, the Hindu god of the planet (graha) Saturn.


Shani Shingnapur Temple
Shingnapur is also famous for the fact that no house in the village has doors, only door frames. Despite this, no theft is reported in the village. Villagers never keep their valuables under lock and key. Legend says that the temple is a “jagrut devasthan” (lit. “alive temple”), meaning that the god here is very powerful. They believe that god Shani punishes anyone attempting theft. Devotees, pilgrims and tourists arriving in Sonai can leave their valuables in a car or bus with all the doors unlocked and not worry about anyone stealing it. The only barrier to enter a house are curtains which keep out stray animals. People believe that nobody dares to steal anything because they are punished by Shanishwara, the local deity, and the owner has always got the stolen things back – if any such thing ever happens.

The village has a post office and a high school known as Shri Shanishwar Vidya Mandir besides the primary schools run by the Zilla Parishad. The chief source of water supply in the villages is wells.
Shrine of Shani
The shrine for Shani compromises of a five and a half feet high black rock installed on an open-air platform, which symbolizes the god Shani. A Trishula (trident) is placed along the side of the image and a Nandi (bull) image is on the south side. In front are the small images of Shiva and Hanuman.

Unique Features of Shinganapur:

1. No shelter over Shani Maharaj - As per the instructions received from Shani Maharaj himself, there is no roof or temple built over his idol.

2. No doors or locks in houses - The most unique feature in Shingnapur that differentiated this village from any other place in the world is that there are no doors or locks to houses. The villagers firmly believe that Shani Maharaj protects them from thieves and wrong doers and they only have door frames and curtains in the place of doors and locks. There are several stories narrated by local villagers about how nobody in the village would dare to make an attempt to steal other's property and also about how when some outsiders have made an attempt to steal they have been punished by Shani Maharaj.

Only curtains in place of doors in Shingnapur
Photo Courtesy: Travel Sulekha


3. No branches grow over the Moolasthan - There was a neem tree that grew near the Moolasthan but everytime a branch grew near Shani Maharaj it would automatically break and fall down. Few years ago, this tree fell and another fig tree has grown there. This too does not extend its branches upto the idol.

4. Water poured over the idol is cure for snakebite - In case of any incident of snakebite in the village, all that the villagers do is to bring the person in white clothes to the temple. A male relative in wet clothes performes abhishekam to the idol and the water is given to the person to drink. In a couple of hours, the person regains consciousness and is not affected by the poison.

5. Shani Maharaj's palanquin- Devotees worship Shani Maharaj's palanquin placed closed to the Moolasthan which has a huge wooden slipper in it. Several shops sell miniatures of this wooden slipper that people buy and take home as talisman.

6. Lamp that burns 24*7 - There is a lamp that burns through day and night in front of the moolasthan.

The temple also has the Samadhi of Udasi Baba who stayed in Shingnapur for many years and worshipped Shani Maharaj.

Some facts about Shani Shingnapur
1. The idol is out in the open, as the Lord made it clear in various ways to his devotees, that He did not want to be covered.
2. The temple is open for everyone twenty-four hours. Even at night, men (women are not allowed near the deity) can bring the puja material and perform all prayers by themselves.
3. No house / shop in the village has doors. It’s believed that the deity protects them and if someone tries to steal or do something wrong, they would be paralysed.

Contact Details :

Shri Shanaishwar Devasthan
Shani Shinganapur, Sonai Post,
Newasa Taluk, Ahmednagar Dist
Maharashtra - 414105
India.

Getting There
Road
Shani Shingnapur is 350km from Mumbai and to reach there it’s best to hire a taxi from Mumbai. Long-distace cabbies from Mumbai take about 7 hours to reach Shani Shingnapur. Although there are MSTC (Maharashtra State Transport Corp) buses from Mumbai to Shirdi (60 km from Shani Shingnapur) and privatly-operated buses as well, locals advise not to attempt the bumpy, shaky ride on the MSTC buses, nor the long, frequent-stopping private buses.
Air
The nearest airport is Aurangabad (144 Km) which is connected by Indian Airlines and private airlines with other cities/towns.
Rail
Trains from Mumbai leave for Nasik (123Km) and Manmad (60Km).