Shri Shani Dham Temple is a temple dedicated to the Hindu God Shani Dev. It is located in

Asola Asola may refer to the following : Places and jurisdictions * Asola, Lombardy, in the province of Mantua, northwestern Italy ** its collegiate cathedral Sant'Andrea was the 'see' of a single-parish Abbey nullius of Asola (1509-1818) * Asola (Del ...

, a suburb of Indian capital

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...

History

On 31 May 2003, a large

Shani Shani ( sa, शनि, ), or Shanaishchara ( sa, शनैश्चर, ), refers to the divine personification of the planet Saturn in Hinduism, and is one of the nine heavenly objects (Navagraha) in Hindu astrology. Shani is also a male Hindu ...

image made of rock, the largest in the world, was unveiled. It has become an attraction for

devotees Devotion or Devotions may refer to: Religion * Faith, confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept * Anglican devotions, private prayers and practices used by Anglican Christians * Buddhist devotion, commitment to religious observance * Cat ...

of Lord Shani. In 2018 the temple came under

scrutiny Scrutiny (French: ''scrutin''; Late Latin: ''scrutinium''; from ''scrutari'', meaning "those who search through piles of rubbish in the hope of finding something of value" and originally from the Latin "scruta," meaning "broken things, rags, or ...

for their affiliation with Daati Maharaj, who had been accused of sexual assault. In 2020 the temple held religious gatherings in violation of local

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...

rules related to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

Description

The temple is divided into two parts: eastern and western. It has a library and a research center alongside an inquiry office, reception office and the publication department. The eastern part is home to the large Shani idol and idols of the twelve ' Jyotirlings'. In the western part there are large Shani statues erected over the

buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * Bubalina, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: Animals * Bubalina, a subtribe of the tr ...

and the

vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North a ...

. To the right of these statues is an idol of

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and ...

. The western section also contains an

oblation Oblation, meaning "the act of offering; an instance of offering" and by extension "the thing offered" (Late Latin ''oblatio'', from ''offerre'', ''oblatum'', to offer), is a term used, particularly in ecclesiastical use, for a solemn offering, s ...

pool and idols of the nine

planets A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young ...

. The temple is open to people of all religions and is visited by thousands of devotees every year. It is especially crowded on Saturdays, which is considered to be the day of Lord Shani. The temple also conducts various religious and cultural programs throughout the year.

References

External links

Official website
{{Hindu temples in Delhi Hindu temples in Delhi