Dharmendra Pradhan visits Shani Shingnapur Temple

Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan visited the Shani Shingnapur Temple on Friday.

He, along with his family, offered prayers at the sanctum sanctorum of the Shani Temple.

It was rumoured that he had come to the temple to perform pooja to get rid of the 'Shani Sadhe Saati' (a period considered to be negative for a person).

However, the pujari who performed the pooja, said that the minister had only come to seek the blessings of Lord Shani.

"Pradhanji performed a simple pooja before Shani Maharaj. It was not related to Shani Sadhe Saati," Ashok Dave, the pujari, told ANI.

However, the pujari refused to give details of the pooja performed, saying that temple is open to all and anyone can come and seek the blessings of god.

The minister's visit to the temple comes two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reshuffled his cabinet, wherein he inducted 19 new ministers and changed portfolios of his government, the major being that of Smriti Irani, who was shifted from HRD to Textiles.

The temple attracted attention in November 2015 after a lady offered prayers in "breach" of an age-old practice of prohibiting entry of women.

Women were permitted entry to the Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district on 8 April following the Bombay High Court order.