shani shingnapur

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Shani Shinganapur: A Lockless village where God is Guardian

In the modern times where, together with the technology advances, crimes too become more sophisticated and the concerns for more and more security measures gains priority, is it possible to imagine a place where people live in harmony in no-door-no-locks-houses ? It may seem unbelievable but as a matter of fact, true! There is indeed a tiny hamlet where houses and other buildings like shops have no doors, and that place is in the country of countless legends and myths – India.

Shani Dev Idol

That peculiar place is ‘Shani Shingnapur’, a village located in Maharashtra state about 350 kilometers away from the state capital Mumbai and 60 kilometers from the popular pilgrim place Shirdi. 

The place where many go to get blessed by the Lord Shanishwara, the presiding deity of the temple at Shani Shingnapur is Lord Shanidev or Lord Shanishwara who is believed to be the personification of the planet Saturn. He is respected and is worshipped with a lot of devotion by his devotees. Millions of people from across the entire world come to Shani Shingnapur to get spiritual benefits. The deity is of black stone and this sight sends many devotees into frenzy. 
In Shani Shingnapur village, people live in houses with no doors for generations! Here one can find only curtains (that is also rare) in the place of doors. The only temporary guard is barriers – that too to keep off stray animals. Here villagers get to their daily routines without bothering about their house’s security or fear of thieves. For them, everything is dedicated to the Lord Shani. The belief is, whoever steals anything from this place will incur the wrath of Shani God and will have to pay for his/her sins very dearly. When Shani Shingnapur natives go outside their village, they don’t ask their neighbors to keep vigil on their house & belongings. There is no Police station in this village too. They have no role here! 

No Doors in Homes

In the 156-year history of village Shani Shingnapur in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra, residents have never installed doors to their houses. Nor do they have a fettish for keeping things locked. Even new constructions such as police stations, guest houses, resorts, telephone exchange and other government buildings follow the rule. The post boxes too have no doors, wire meshes with open designs stop the letters from tumbling out. In case residents want to hang curtains on the door openings it is mandatory that they should be transparent. Despite the changes in the intervening years, the estimated 6500 residents in this village live with the singular belief that Lord Shaneshwar (Saturn) protects them from thieves and other ills. Surprisingly, there is no such bar for those living outside the parameters of Shani Shingnapur. Visit any part of this village and even the most  plush bungalows follow the stated rule.