Despite cloudy skies, most parts of state witness lunar eclipse

Ranchi/Hazaribag: Although cloud covered the skies in many areas, most parts of the state on Tuesday evening witnessed the partial lunar eclipse.
The residents of Ranchi, Hazaribag, Bokaro and other urban areas of the state viewed the partial eclipse of the moon after the sunset.
However, parts of the Santhal Pargana missed out on the natural phenomenon as overcast skies blocked the view.
India Meteorological Department’s Ranchi office had predicted mist, accompanied by partly cloudy morning, in most parts of Jharkhand on Tuesday.
In a statement, the Ranchi weather office said a complete eclipse occurred over Ranchi and Hazaribag for nine and 10 minutes respectively, a little after the moonrise at 5.02 pm.
“While the complete lunar eclipse prevailed over the entire state between 3.46 pm and 5.12 pm, a partial eclipse occurred between 2.39 pm and 6.19 pm,” it added.
In Hazaribag, the historic 400-year-old Narasingha temple at Narsingh Sthan, about 8km from Hazaribag town, remained closed for the first time due to the eclipse, informed its chief priest Upendra Mishra.
Mishra added that they had scheduled the Kartik Purnima celebrations to Monday in view of the eclipse.
More than 20,000 devotees from Nawada (Bihar) and Jharkhand had turned up to offer puja at the famous temple yesterday.