Temples close in Delhi during solar eclipse

NEW DELHI - Several temples across Delhi closed their doors as the millenium’s longest annular solar eclipse began Friday morning. People offered special prayers and priests said that a proper cleansing process was observed before the temples were opened to public after the eclipse.

The Radha-Krishna temple in central Delhi, also known as Birla Mandir, was closed at 11 a.m. - around the same time as what was visible in Delhi as the partial eclipse started.

The temple was closed in the morning and no puja was performed because of the solar eclipse. However, a special havan was being performed in the meantime. When the eclipse gets over, the temple will be opened, but not before a cleansing process, a priest at the temple told IANS.

Narayan Kothari, a priest at a temple in east Delhi, said the temple was closed during the eclipse to ward off bad energy of the eclipsed sun.

Explaining the ritual, Vedic scholar A.S. Arvamudan told IANS: The main reason why temples are closed during the solar eclipse is that when the sun is covered by the moon and is not seen, it is said that asuras or demons are worshipped. Therefore, deities should not be worshipped during this time.

Similarly, after the eclipse gets over, there is a cleansing process being done - because it is said that asuras are worshipped during the eclipse. Priests take a bath and mantras are chanted before opening the temple’s doors, he added.

A number of people in the capital, like elsewhere, also offered special prayers in their homes during the eclipse and refrained from cooking or eating food.

Said Usha Kaushal, a homemaker: I performed a special puja during the eclipse. Also, there was no food being cooked or eaten during the period. I have grown up seeing my parents perform these rituals and therefore it’s a deeply ingrained belief.

Added Rakesh Sharma, an advertising professional: I am not superstitious but my mother gave me strict instructions not to eat during the eclipse, so I had brunch at 10.30 a.m. before the eclipse began.

While the eclipse began at 11.06 a.m. in India, in Delhi the partial phase of the eclipse began at 11.53 a.m. and ended at 3.11 p.m. The maximum eclipse of 53 percent was at 1.39 p.m.

An annular solar eclipse occurs when the sun and the moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the moon’s shadow is smaller than that of the visible disc of the sun. The covered sun, therefore, appears as a ‘Ring of Fire’, with its rays appearing spread out from the outline of the dark moon.

Last time India saw this ‘Ring of Fire’ was Nov 22, 1965. The maximum duration of the eclipse was 11 minutes 8 seconds over the Indian Ocean, making it the longest annular eclipse of the millennium.