An enchanted village. A magical black stone as its guardian. And a sense of the miraculous. That’s Shani Shingnapur, tucked away in remote Maharashtra. A happy place, they say, where for 400 years there has not been a single theft, riot, murder or rape. There’s no home with locks, doors or windows, no ailing elderly, no bad blood, no unhappy spirits walking by night. Just ancient peepal trees that people touch reverentially every Saturday as they fast. Watching over the village is its dark lord, Shani dev, a five-and-a-half-feet rock, in his open-air temple. Beware his great malefic eye or suffer seven years of tough luck.
It’s the stuff of fairy tales. But in an unbelieving 21st century, the fairy tale has turned into a soap opera. On January 26,…
