ASIA PREPARES FOR LONGEST SOLAR ECLIPSE

JULY 22, TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF THE YEAR

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN IN INDIA

India (AP) – A Total Solar Eclipse will be visible in India on July 22, 2009 from early morning 05:28 hrs to 07:40 hrs (Indian Standard Time). The total solar eclipse will last nearly four minutes — from 6.26 am to 6.30 am — in India and the sun will not be visible at all. According to NASA, the solar eclipse on July 22, 2009 is a ‘Total Solar Eclipse’ and the Moon's umbral shadow on Sun begins in India and crosses through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, China and ends in the Pacific Ocean. It is the longest total solar eclipse in the 21st century and will not surpass in duration until next 123 years.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is caught between the sun and the Earth while each of them moves along their fixed orbits. Astronomers hope the eclipse would help to improve their understanding of the sun as it would offer a prolonged view of the sun's corona. The total solar eclipse in India will be visible in regions around Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Surat (Gujarat), Darjeeling (West Bengal), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) and Patna (Bihar). Majority of the regions in India will not have a view of the Total solar eclipse. Vast swathes of India and China and the southern Japanese islands are to be plunged into darkness for more than six minutes. Thousands of amateur stargazers and scientists have travelled to what were expected to be the best places to observe the eclipse. Millions of people across Asia will witness the longest total solar eclipse expected this century early on Wednesday. Meanwhile an astrologer in Burma predicted the event could usher in chaos. Some in India advised pregnant relatives to stay indoors to follow a centuries-old tradition of avoiding the sun's invisible rays.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

After His separation from Vṛndāvana and the innocent rural cowherd boys, girls, ladies and others, they all felt shock throughout their lives, and the separation of Rādhārāṇī, the most beloved cowherd girl, is beyond expression. Once they met at Kurukṣetra during a solar eclipse, and the feeling which was expressed by them is heartrending.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
"The Srimad Bhagavatam - Purport in Canto 1 - Chapter 10 - Verses 9 & 10"

Krishna, Baladeva and Subhadrā are represented in the famous Jagannātha temple of Purī, and the temple is still visited by thousands of pilgrims daily. This temple is in remembrance of the Lord's visit at Kuruksetra during an occasion of solar eclipse and His subsequent meeting with the residents of Vrindāvana. The meeting of Rādhā and Krishna during this occasion is a very pathetic story, and Lord Śrī Caitanya, in the ecstasy of Rādhārāṇī, always pined for Lord Śrī Krishna at Jagannātha Purī.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
"The Srimad Bhagavatam - Purport in Canto 1 - Chapter 13 - Verses 3 & 4"

When the gopīs of Vrindāvana, the residents of Gokula, met Krishna at Kuruksetra during the solar eclipse, they wanted to take Krishna back to Vrindāvana. Śrī Krishna Caitanya Mahāprabhu also felt the same ecstasy as soon as He saw Jagannātha in the temple or on the Ratha-yātrā car. The gopīs of Vrindāvana did not like the opulence of Dvārakā. They wanted to take Krishna to the village of Vrindāvana and enjoy His company in the groves. This desire was also felt by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and He danced in ecstasy before the Ratha-yātrā festival when Lord Jagannātha went to Gundicā.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
"Sri Caitanya-caritamrita - Purport in Madhya-lila - Chapter 1 - Verse 56"