Karnataka - Bangalore

No shadow need fall on this Ugadi

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: If you are one of those who celebrate festivals strictly according to religious guidelines, you will have to bathe twice before beginning the Ugadi puja on Sunday. That is because Chandramana Ugadi this year will coincide with the occurrence of a partial solar eclipse. Therefore, you would first have to take the "grahana moksha snana" once the eclipse has passed the earth point at 9.55 a.m., and then the regular Ugadi snana. Except for this one small hassle, however, even the most devout can go ahead and celebrate the festival as usual with bevu-bella and a generous serving of holige oota.

The occurrence of an eclipse on the day of Ugadi is a rare phenomenon, and has been recorded only eight times since the Christian calendar was first made, says N.S. Sreedhara Murthy of Bangalore Press, a company known for its calendars and panchangas. He says the last time the phenomenon occurred was on March 18, 1909.

Quoting the Dharma Sindhu text, he says there is no reason for the eclipse to upset any Ugadi preparations. "If you are a staunch believer in rituals, you could place a blade of dharbe grass on all those items you would be using later, before the start of the eclipse at sunrise, and use them as usual after it has occurred," he says.

Dismissing the warnings of prophets of doom who read sinister meanings into the rare phenomenon of Ugadi and the eclipse falling on the same day, Mr. Murthy offers a piece of sane advice: "An eclipse is a natural occurrence and even those who are religious should not read too much into it."

In these days of severe water shortage, we might also do well to heed the appeal of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board against throwing out stored water after the eclipse.

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