Śani Pradoṣam is the Pradoṣam that falls on a Saturday, Śani's own weekday, and it is widely held to be the most potent of the seven weekday Pradoṣams. Because Śani is believed to yield to Śiva's grace, dusk worship of Śiva on this day is kept to ease Sāde Sātī, Kaṇṭaka Śani and Aṣṭama Śani. Devotees also keep it for relief from long-standing sins and hardships, and in some traditions childless couples keep it praying for progeny. How the day is fixed: A day is Pradoṣam when Trayodaśī prevails at local sunset. When that day is a Saturday, it is Śani Pradoṣam. Keep in mind: Sunset comes at different times in different places, so whether Trayodaśī holds at dusk can move the Pradoṣam by a day from one city to another. Only a Pradoṣam that lands on a Saturday is Śani Pradoṣam. This year: The 2026 date shown here is worked out from sunrise at the place you chose, so in another city the same day can fall a day earlier or later. Fast and dusk worship: Devotees fast through the day or take only fruit, attend the liṅga abhiṣeka and darśana in the Pradoṣa Kāla around sunset, and break the fast the same evening. Many keep the fast more strictly than on other weekdays, and temples see their largest Pradoṣam crowds. Offerings to Śani: Worship of Śani is not part of the Pradoṣam rule, which centres on Śiva. Many households still add sesame oil, a lamp or black sesame for Śani as a family custom, and in Andhra and Telangana the same Saturday Trayodaśī is also kept as Śani Trayodaśī with oil offerings to Śani. Worth remembering: Śani Pradoṣam is one of the seven weekday Pradoṣams, alongside Soma Pradoṣam, Guru Pradoṣam and the rest. Its standing rests on the link between the weekday and the graha and on popular belief, not on a separate kathā. Regional custom colours the day. Tamil households speak of Thirunallar, where Śani is said to have released Nala by the grace of Darbhāraṇyeśvara, Telugu homes pair a morning Śani pūjā with the evening Śiva pūjā, Kerala adds a sesame-wick lamp and a visit to Śāstā, and Maharashtra offers oil to Māruti. Whatever the local form, the surest guide is the way the elders of one's own house have kept the day.
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