Shani Bhagavan

The word pradosha literally means a time period between sunrise and sunset. The period of pradosha lasts about 1 1/2 hours before sunset and 1 hour after sunset. Usually pradosha is observed for Lord Shiva. However, when a pradosha falls on a Saturday, it is also called as Shani pradosha and it is very significant to worship Lord Shani, from the navagrahas.

Shani Bhagavan is always related to causing ill effects in the native’s lives and hence observing a fast during Shani pradosha is considered to reduce this planet’s effects. While people go to a Shani temple during the pradosha time, they pray to Lord Shiva throughout the day. Being the son of the Sun God, Shani is believed to be very powerful on Saturdays, especially in the evenings.

The significance of today, the 30th of November, 2013, is that is Swarna Akarshana Pradosha, a time where the alignment of planets is so powerful, and the fact remains that this event happens only once in 400 years. It is considered very auspicious to visit a Narasimha temple as well, during this time, because it is widely believed that Lord Vishnu took the Narasimha avatar at twilight, which is now widely believed as the pradosha time.

For a huge list of Narasimha temples, visit http://www.ishtadevata.com/?s=narasimha&x=-231&y=-56

For a list of Shani temples, visit http://www.ishtadevata.com/navagraha.html