Tiny village where front doors are banned & locks are ‘out of the question’ due to a 300-year-old legend of ancient rock
A TINY Indian village has no doors, even for its bank, because of an ancient legend.
Shani Shingnapur is a village in India’s Maharashtra state that attracts attracts 40,000 devotees each day.
Despite all the strangers, villagers keep their doors unlocked due to the very low crime rate in the town.
They believe anyone who commits a crime will be punished with blindness and any dishonest person will face seven and a half years of bad luck.
Even the bank, post office, and the local shop remain unlocked. The police station is also doorless and the public toilets only have a thin curtain for privacy.
Resident Alok Bhaiya told Savaari that: “In this village, houses have no doors. Locks? Out of the question. A community of 4,000 odd people resides here, living on trust.”
There is a high level of trust in the town, about 200 kms east of Mumbai, because of a 300-year-old ancient legend.
The legend begins with a five-foot-long black stone landing on the bank of the local river.
A shepherd found the stone on the Panasnala Riverbank, but when he prodded it with a rod blood supposedly began to ooze from it.
That night, the god Shani appeared in the dreams of the shepherd and said the stone was his idol.
Shani is the personification of the planet Saturn in Hinduism and is the god of karma, justice, and retribution.
Shani wanted the rock placed at the centre of the village without shelter so he could look over it.
If he did this, Shani promised to protect the village from any dangers to the village.
After the villages installed the slab of rock onto a roofless platform in the centre of the town, they removed all their doors.
The tradition has carried on through generations and Hindus now travel to the town to pray to Shani.
Sometimes wooden panels are used as doors to keep stray dogs out.
The BBC reported there has been recorded thefts near the town in 2010 and 2011 when visitors reported that cash and valuables stolen.
The Indian Express reported that these thefts are now encouraging some locals to apply to the local authority to get doors for their home.