Solar Eclipse & Myths Surrounding It: Know What Scriptures & Rationalists In Odisha Say

Bhubaneswar: The second and last ‘Surya Grahan’ (solar eclipse) of this year occurs on Tuesday. Most of the states in India except a few in northeast will be able to witness the solar eclipse. In Odisha, the eclipse will be visible from 4.56 pm.

“Only 10% of the sun will be visible in Bhubaneswar for 20 minutes. The citizens of Odisha’s capital city can witness the eclipse from 4.56 pm to 5.16 pm,” Deputy Director of Pathani Samanta Planetarium Subhendu Pattnaik told Odisha Bytes.

Below are important timings of the solar eclipse for Odisha as per Hindu calendar.

• Grahan Sparsha: 4.56 pm
• Grahan Madhya: 5.43 pm
• Sarva Mokshya: 6.26 pm
• Grahan Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Cooking & intake of food and rituals of deities (Debaniti) prohibited from 4.57 am

As per the prescriptions of the almanac, cooking and intake of cooked food called ‘Paka Tyaga’ is prohibited from 5 am to ‘Sarva Mokshya’ time at 6.26 pm. However, they can take fruits during the period.

Since it is believed that the food cooked during solar eclipse turns poisonous and impure, the people finish the cooking before the eclipse or place tulsi leaves on those and cover it properly.

According to Hindu mythology, following ‘Samudra Manthan’ (churning of sea), Rahu, the demon, in guise of a Dev (God) consumed ‘Amrit’ (elixir) by sitting between Chandra Dev (Moon) and Surya Dev (Sun) while Lord Vishnu in the form of a beautiful damsel called ‘Mohini’ served the elixir to the Devas.

When Lord Vishnu realised that Rahu had tricked them to have the potion to attain immortality, he severed the latter’s head. As the demon had already consumed the potion, he was severed into two parts — the head portion was called ‘Rahu’ and the body part was called ‘Ketu’.

As Chandra and Surya had disclosed the true identity of Rahu before Lord Vishnu, the demon has been taking revenge by gobbling up the Sun and Moon for a few minutes.

“It is popularly believed that with the sun’s rays on planet earth, we, the humans, get an inner strength to begin our day. During the ‘Surya Parag’, we should not consume any food and our stomach should be left empty as mythologically we have been believing that the food gets poisonous with a virus. Hence, we stop consuming food 12 hours prior to the eclipse. We do not even pray to God during this time,” a local priest told Odisha Bytes.

Likewise, famous astrologer Niranjan Mohapatra told a local channel that people should avoid all cooked food such as rice, dal, and curry which are difficult to digest during the solar eclipse. “They can consume light food like roti, ‘chuda’ (crushed rice), milk and fruits instead,” he said.

But rationalist Debendra Sutar differed on the concept of fasting during the eclipse. He said people should understand the scientific concept behind the ‘Paka Tyaga’ ritual during the solar eclipse.

“Even a Standard III student understands the scientific reason of the solar eclipse which occurs when the sun, moon and earth are aligned in a straight line. The existence of ‘Rahu’ or ‘Ketu’ swallowing the sun is not mentioned in any textbooks. In spite of it, people believe in superstition of fasting and refrain from food during the eclipse,” said Sutar.