Shani Bhagavan: Fearsome deity or Teacher of Values?

 On Navagrahas 

In Sanskrit, Nava means nine and Graha mean planet. In Hindu mythology, the Navagrahas are the nine celestial bodies in the Cosmos that are very important as they influence every life on our planet. They are Ravi (Sun), Chandra (Moon), Angharakha (Mars), Budha (Mercury), Guru (Jupiter), Sukra (Venus), Sani (Shri Saneeswara (Lord of Saturn)), Rahu and Ketu, which are respectively the invisible North and South Nodes of the moon. Astrologers believe that an individual's future may be predicted by a close study of planetary motion, keeping in mind the person's time of birth. Historically, Hindus have believed that these planets influence critical events such as the Monsoon rains, and so have an age old religious tradition of worshipping the deities representing each of the nine planets. The nine planet deities are called the Navagraha, and they are said to bless their devotees with peace, harmony and prosperity, while preventing any personal disasters from striking them.

On Shri Saneeswara 
The planet Saturn is the most brilliant of all planets observed by men. The beauty of this planet, with its concentric rings, is simply astonishing. The Saturn is also said to be the most powerful planet from the point of view of Astrology. Shri Saneeswara is the deity who presides over the planet Saturn. He is said to be an all powerful God and feared by all Hindus, who typically blame a piece of misfortune as being a sign of Shri Saneeswara's displeasure with them.

In truth, Shri Saneeswara is blamed for anything and everything, and rather being someone to be feared, He should be looked at as a true friend and a teacher. Shri Saneeswara teaches the important values of life such as discipline, responsibility, honor, and integrity, boundaries, limits, structure, among other things. His magnificent rings represent the boundaries of our actions, or karma. In fact, Lord Saneeswara makes every living person experience his or her own karma, whether he or she wants to or not. Lord Shaneeswara is likened to a strict teacher who makes his student see the folly of his or her ways, repent and seek redemption through a great deal of effort.

Why Hindus offer prayers to Shri Saneeswara 
Hindus believe that praying to this powerful God lightens their burden and softens Shri Saneeswara's heart towards them, helping them turn a new leaf in their lives. That is why appeasing Shri Saneeswara is an age old Hindu religious tradition that has only evolved with time. All over India, people flock to temples dedicated to Shri Saneeswara, and pray for a blessing from the Lord, to help them tide over any unfortunate circumstance or difficulty that is currently troubling them and to remove any burden that is difficult to bear.

The Shri Saneeswara Temple of New York: An Introduction 
Well over 200 majestic Hindu temples have been built over the past two decades in the United States and are a testament to the new found confidence of the Hindu community in America. One such temple, which despite being quite new, has achieved a great following from the Hindu community, is the Shri Saneeswara Temple of New York. This temple is unique in its own right, and the reason for this is that, it is the first temple dedicated to Lord Saneeswara in the United States, and indeed, is the first temple of its kind anywhere outside India.

The Shri Navagraha Devasthanam of North America 
The Shri Saneeswara Temple is the first of the nine temples that the organization Shri Navagraha Devasthanam of North America plans to build in many major cities of the United States. Shri Navagraha Devasthanam is registered in the State of New York, and was created out of a deep desire of its founding members to spread the Hindu culture and traditions all across North America, and to take their faith far beyond the shores of India. The stated aim of this organization is to foster the Vedic Culture and the Heritage of Spiritual Philosophy in North America. The consecration of the Shri Saneeswara Temple in New York is the first major achievement of this organization.

More on the Shri Saneeswara Temple of New York 
The Shri Saneeswara Temple has already made a mark with the Indian community in New York, with volunteers from the community helping out with several of the temple's activities. The temple is particularly bustling with activity on weekends, with scores of Hindus visiting the temple to pay their respects to Shri Saneeswara. Pujas and Aarthis are regularly conducted on every day of the week in the temple. But Saturday is a particularly busy day here because of the importance of this day to Lord Saneeswara. Several Pujas, Aarthis and Homam are conducted throughout this day, starting at 8 AM with the Ushakala Puja till the Shri Vishnu Sahasranama Parayanam at 6 PM. The Aarthi at 7:30 PM is the concluding program at the temple.

The Shri Saneeswara Temple Community 
A temple is only as strong as the local community that champions it, and the Shri Saneeswara Temple is fortunate to have a large local community of devout Hindus solidly behind it, with the sort of commitment that can only come from a deep standing devotion in their Faith. And it is this communitarian spirit that is responsible for running a thriving community centre at the temple, an excellent library, a weekend school to inculcate the Hindu culture and traditions in children, a senior day care service centre and a lovely little gift shop.

 Written by Raghav Hegde for BookPujaOnline