Lord Shani (  Saturn), although a planet in the sky, enjoys divine status and is revered by most of the Indians as a Deity who offers blessings for noble deeds and punishment for evil ones.

 

According to the traditional Hindu Shaka calendar, the birth anniversary of Lord Shani occurs on the Waishaakha Amaawaasyaa new-moon day of the Waishaakha month). This year it occurs on the 1st of June, 2011.

The word Shani is derived from the Sanskrit word Shanaishchara which is a Sandhi (liaison) of two words, meaning ‘slowly’ and meaning ‘moving’, hence means the slow-moving planet. He is called so because Saturn takes almost 29.5 years to complete its revolution around the Sun.

As a planet, Shani was known to the Indian astronomers as early as the 3rd century BC.
Suurya-siddhaanta an ancient treatise on astronomy, indicates the diameter of Saturn as 73,882 miles, an error of less than 1% from the currently accepted value of 74,580 miles. Its color, as appears from the earth, is considered to be dark blue or almost black at times.

Most of the celestial bodies have undergone deification in India and Shani is no exception. He is, thus considered as a Deity and invocated by most of the Indian sages and priests for good fortune. As a deity, Shani is considered to be very strict, in that he grants blessings for good deeds and curses for evil deeds, quite quickly.

Shani is considered to be the son of Goddess Chhaaya and Sun-God and the elder brother of Yama . Yama and Shani, both are Judging deities, i.e., they judge a person according to his deeds, but while Yama does the judgment after ones death, Shani does it while the person is alive and gives the fruit of one’s deeds immediately.

In astrology, Shani is considered to be the most effective planet and having him at favourable or unfavourable positions on one’s horoscope determines the major part of a person’s life viz ,career, fame, properity etc.

Shani takes almost 30 years to revolve around the sun, as also to pass through all the moon-signs, which means he spends approximately 2.5 years in each moon-sign. Thus, it is believed that a period of 7.5 years (starting from the time Shani enters the moon-sign previous to a person’s birth-sign upto the period he leaves the moon-sign further to one’s own) is denoted as Shani-mahaa-dashaa and is believed to have quite a significant effect on a person’s future with regards to his career, family, relationships and health as well. This period is, by nature, troublesome to all the people undergoing it, but a person who maintains a pious character, performs noble deeds, displays devotion and faith in Lord Shani in various forms and keeps away from materialistic temptations will be blessed by Shani and will receive extraordinary benefits for his good conduct from the Lord.

The following well known verse, is an exerpt from the nawagraha-stotram   praise of nine planets), composed by Great Sage Wyaasa in the anuSTubh meter .