Page:Hindu Feasts Fasts and Ceremonies.djvu/47



HE Hindus were the first to have correct and scientific ideas about eclipses. Varaha-mihira, the greatest Hindu astronomer, who flourished in the sixth century A.D., has described the phenomena of eclipses in the same way as any astronomer of the twentieth century would do. But with the generality of the Hindus the eclipse is the swallowing of the sun and the moon for a time by a demon called Rahu. Rahu is also one of the nine planets in the astronomy of the Hindus, the ascending node. If any Hindu calendar is consulted tor the figure of an eclipse, Rahu, in the form of a monstrous serpent or dragon, will be seen to erasp the sun. Thus the common Hindu believes the eclipse to be a great calamity that has come over the luminaries. He has to fast for six hours before the commencement of the eclipse, and prepares his food and eats only after the eclipse is over. During the course of the eclipse he has to perform certain ceremonies. As soon as the first contact takes place he