Shanidev Maharaj

Om Shanishcharaya namah!

Kokilavan Dham:

At Kosi Kalan near Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, we have the famous Shani Dev Temple, also known as Kokilavan Dham. The Kokilavan Shani Temple is just six km from Kosi on the Nandgaon-Barsana road.

It is believed to be the spot where Lord Krishna gave darshan to Sani Dev (God Shani). The temple is visited by thousands of devotees on Saturday (Shanivar), the day dedicated to Lord Shani. There is an interesting story associated with Lord Krishna and Shani Dev and the Kokilavan Dham.

Legend has it that when Lord Krishna was born all Devas (demi gods) visited Nandagaon. Shani Dev too came to see little Krishna but Yashoda did not let him see young Krishna,fearing that Shanidev might bring bad effect upon Lord Krishna.

Shani felt disappointed and went to a nearby forest and started performing austerities (tapas). He wanted to know why he was being ignored when he is doing his duty of punishing people according to their Karma. It is said that Shani only creates trouble on those people who do bad Karma.

Moved by Shani’s plight, Lord Krishna appeared before him in the forest and asked him to stay near Nandagaon. He also granted him the boon that whoever visited his temple will be immediately freed from troubles.

In his teenage years, Krishna visited the same spot and attracted gopis with the music from this flute. When the gopis arrived, Krishna appeared in the form of a Koyal (Cuckoo). That spot came to be known as Kokilavan.

Kokilavan Dham is spread over an area of 20 acres and contains Shani Dev Temple, Sri Dev Bihariji Temple,Gokulesh Maharaj Temple, Giriraj Temple, NavgrahaTemples and Barkhandi Baba temple. There are two large pools and a Goshala (cow shelter) in the compound.

Thirunallur temple- Sri Dharbaraneswara Swamy Devasthanam:

Similarly, there is a very popular Shani Temple is located at Thirunallar near Karaikal a part of Union Territory Pondicherry.The greatness of the Thirunallur temple is attributed to the unique idol of Lord Shani as he stands blessing the devotee – called the abhayahastham mudra. This is a very rare depiction and therefore thousands of devotees who believe they are badly affected by Shani visit the shrine to get His blessings.

The exact name of the Shani Temple at Thirunallar is Sri Dharbaraneswara Swamy Devasthanam and it is also referred as Saneeswara Bhagavan Temple. The main temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. But the Shani Shrine has become more popular than the main temple primarily due to belief of devotees that by praying at the shrine will make Shani happy and thereby all the miseries and hardship are removed.

Legend has it that Lord Nala mentioned in the Epics and Puranas was relieved of all sufferings after praying at this shrine.

Believed to have been built in the 7^th century, the temple also has small shrines dedicated to other gods including Lord Ganesha.

Thirunallaru ShaniTemple is located about 5 km west of Karaikal inPondicherry. The temple lies on the Karaikal – Mayiladuthurai and Karaikal – Kumbakonam road. There are direct buses from Chennai to Thirunallar. The easiest route is from Chennai to Thirunallar is via Tindivanam, Pondicherry, Chidambaram, Tranquebar, Karaikal.

Nearest Railway Station to Thirunallar Shani Temple is the Mayiladuthurai Railway Station.

Karaikal is part of PondicherryUnion Territory and is surrounded by Tamil Nadu on three sides and on the east by Bay of Bengal.