Saturn (Sani)
Sani is the karma-karaka, the graha of discipline, labour, longevity, delay and hard-won results. It is feared more than any other planet in popular practice, but its reputation is better understood as strictness than malice: Sani delays and tests, and rewards what is genuinely earned. Sade Sati, the seven-and-a-half-year period when Sani transits the twelfth, first and second houses from the natal Moon, is the most commonly consulted affliction in Tamil astrology. The temple is Dharbaranyeswarar Temple at Thirunallar in Karaikal, where the Nala Theertham commemorates King Nala’s release from Sani’s grip; Sani Peyarchi there draws lakhs of devotees. Sani rules Magaram and Kumbam, is exalted in Thulam and debilitated in Mesham, and takes about thirty years to complete the zodiac.