Chandra Grahan 2019: Varanasi Ganga Aarti to be Held 4 Hours Early at 3 pm Today
The ritual is held at 7pm everyday in summer and at 6pm during winters generally. The 3pm ritual today will be held hours before the usual time.
Image for Representation. (Reuters)
As a partial lunar eclipse or Chandra Grahan will occur in India on the intervening night of July 16 and 17, the Ganga Aarti at Varanasi’s Dashashwamedh Ghat has been scheduled to be held at 3pm, on July 16. The timing for the famous Ganga Aarti in Varanasi has been brought forward on account of the lunar eclipse.
The ritual is held at 7pm everyday in summer and at 6pm during winters generally. The 3pm ritual today will be held hours before the usual time.
As per the Hindu beliefs, an eclipse is considered to be inauspicious, and therefore, no religious ritual can be performed for a specified period of time before, during and after it. Among other practices observed during an eclipse, temple doors are kept shut for a specific period of time.
Keeping these beliefs in mind, the organisers of Ganga Aarti at Varanasi’s Dashashwamedh Ghat have decided to perform the ritual in the afternoon instead of the usual timing in the evening.
In India, the partial lunar eclipse will be visible on the wee hours of Wednesday, July 17. According to NASA, the Moon will enter penumbra on July 17 around 00.13 am IST. The partial lunar eclipse will begin at 01:31 am IST and will end three hours later at 04:29 am IST. The eclipse would be seen clearly at 03:00:44 am IST.