The portals of almost all prominent temples in Uttarakhand including Kedarnath and Badrinath temples remained closed on account of a partial solar eclipse or Surya Grahan on Tuesday, October 25.
In Haridwar, idols of temple deities were covered with cloth as priests and devotees recited mantras and sang bhajans between 4 am and 6 pm.
Priests believe that the sunray should not touch the idol of the deity and no one should touch the presiding deity during the solar eclipse.
“Ganga aarti was performed at 2 am at Gangotri on Tuesday. Temple portals were closed at 4 am and will remain closed till 6 pm. It will be opened at 12:01 am on Wednesday,” said Harish Somwal, president of the Gangotri Temple Committee.
The last solar eclipse of this year kicked in at 4:22 am and will end at 6:23 pm. “After cleaning, Yamnotri temple will open again for the public after 6:23 pm,” said Suresh Uniyal, a priest at the temple.
Faithful people should recite Hanuman and Shani mantras and donate ‘khichri’, block cloth and any article of red colour to ward off the negative impact of the solar eclipse, said noted priest Dr Prateek Mishra.
The solar eclipse will be visible from parts of Europe, Northern Africa and large parts of western and central Asia. It was visible from most of India, barring some parts in northeastern states.
During a solar eclipse, the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, which stops some of the Sun’s light from reaching our planet. There are generally three types of solar eclipses – total solar eclipse, annular eclipse and partial solar eclipse.
In an event of a total eclipse, the Moon will completely cover the Sun. During an annular solar eclipse, the Moon does not fully cover the Sun but will leave an edge visible. In a partial solar eclipse, the Moon partly covers the Sun.