9 Navagraha Temple

The Navagrahas, nine grahas or celestial bodies, comprise Surya (Sun), Chandra (Moon), Angarakan (Mars), Budha (Mercury), Guru (Jupiter), Shukra (Venus), Shani(Saturn), Rahu and Ketu (the two nodes of the eclipses- the Solar and the Lunar)

List of 9 Navagraha Temple:

The word Graha means “ to attract”. These celestial bodies are believed to affect the physical and mental condition of human beings. The grahas are considered to have both a malevolent as well as benevolent influence on the day-to-day course of one’s life.

The nine planets appear to move in the celestial sphere with reference to the stellar constellations known as Nakshatra (Stars). There are twenty-seven Nakshatras which are repeated in a HIndu Calendar every month. The movements of these bodies with respect to the Nakshatras are said to control a person’s destiny including his thoughts and deeds, status and prosperity. The worship of Navagrahas makes the planets that are in auspicious situations offer increased fruits of benefits for one’s actions while the planets which occupy less desirous situations tend to remove the evil effects of a person’s karma.

The Navagrahas are considered to be intermediaries between the principal deity in the temple, almost always Shiva and the worshipper. They each are in charge of specific areas of concern to the devotee, be it health, wealth,pursuit of knowledge, professional gain or just about anything else. The belief is that worshipping the specific graha for the specific need gets the devotee the boon he craves.