Who is Shani and what is his importance? The powerful Shani or Saturn can be termed as, perhaps, the planet which is feared the most by the people at large. Astrology regards Shani as the son of Surya, the Sun God. It is said that the Sun went too close to the newborn baby, ignoring the advice of the sages not to do so, and hence baby Saturn turned dark and black, due to the heat of the Sun and his powerful aura. Saturn is a planet, massive in size. He is a very slow mover, taking a duration of around 2 ½ years to complete his transit in one sign and thus, almost 30 years to complete a full cycle. Saturn is justice personified, who looks carefully at the good and the bad that people do in their lives and then, meets out justice to them impartially, in the form of good and bad fruits in subsequent lives. He is also believed to be both, a great giver and a bad denier, that is, the one who can bestow people with the greatest good and also the worst bad. It is this Saturn who oft...