Shani Jayanti Amavasya 2026 Date

About Shani Jayanti Amavasya

Shani Jayanti marks the day Shani — son of Surya by Chhaya, the shadow-wife — was born. Falling on Jyeshtha (or Vaishakha) Amavasya, it is the year's biggest day for Tailabhishekam: pouring sesame or mustard oil over the dark stone idol to soften Saturn's gaze.

The Skanda Purana's Kashi Khanda tells why Shani is feared. Surya's wife Sanjna could not bear his heat. She left behind her shadow, Chhaya, who bore a dark-skinned child. Surya refused to accept him as his own, and the neglected boy grew into the stern judge of karma. A childhood fight with his brother Yama left him with a permanent limp — the slow gait that gives Saturn its name, Shanaischara, "the slow-mover." On this day devotees pour oil over his image and offer black sesame, urad dal and blue flowers. At Shani Shingnapur in Maharashtra, where the swayambhu (self-emerged) black stone stands open to the sky, crowds swell from 40,000 on a normal day to nearly three lakh. In the South, Tirunallar in Puducherry draws those finishing their Sade Sati cycle.