Andhra Pradesh's Sri Kalahasti The Only Temple That Remains Open During Solar Eclipse; Know Why

In December 2019, the temple remained open at the time when all the temples in India were closed completely for 13 hours despite the solar eclipse.

Sri Kalahasti temple of Andhra Pradesh. (Image: Facebook)

New Delhi: June 21, the longest day of the year, will also witness a solar eclipse on the day. It is second eclipse in ten days which will be visible in some parts of the world like India, Pakistan, Asia, Europe among others. According to timeanddate.com, the eclipse will start at about 9:15 am and will end by 3:04 pm on June 21 (although there might be slight variation in time). It also said that the full eclipse will start from 10:17 am and the maximum eclipse will occur at 12:10 pm. On the day of solar or lunar eclipse, temples in India usually remain shut for hours. However, Sri Kalahasti temple of Andhra Pradesh is the only Hindu worship place that remains open. On the day of the eclipse, the priests at this temple perform holy prayers by pouring holy water to the idol of of Lord Srikalahasteeswara (Lord Shiva). It is believed that the pujas done on this particular day help worshipers get rid of their ‘doshams’(defects). In December 2019, the temple remained open at the time when all the temples in India were closed completely for 13 hours despite the solar eclipse. As quoted in an India.com report, a temple priest Maruthi Sharma said, “Basically Sri Kalahasti temple is called as Rahu Kethu kshethram. Both Rahu and Kethu were with Swamy (Shiva)and Amaavaru(Parvathi). According to mythology, a five-headed serpent called Kethu adorns the head of Lord Shiva whereas a single headed serpent called Rahu in the form of an ornament finds place as the waist belt (Vaddanam, ornament) of Ammavaru. Hence the ill effects of eclipse not to be felt in this temple.” However, this time, even the Sri Kalahasti temple might remain shut on the day as one of the priests at the temple tested positive for COVID-19 last week. According to the reports, the temple authorities have postponed the 'trial darshans' which was supposed to be held on June 10. A solar eclipse occurs when the sun, moon, and earth are aligned in such a manner that the moon passes between the sun and the earth and blocks the sunlight. It can be both partial (moon only blocks part of the sun’s light) or total ( moon blocks the sun completely). The moon casts a shadow on the earth and as the earth rotates it creates a trail which is called the path of totality. And only in this path will you experience total darkness during an eclipse.