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New Delhi: Ramya Narayan hurried to her brother's place early yesterday morning to tie a Rakhi before going to work.
Although not much of a believer in the effect of eclipses, with the priests saying that the auspicious hour ends at 4pm because of a lunar eclipse yesterday, Narayan said that she did not want to take any chances.
Lakshmi Prasad, a priest of the Lakshmi Narayan temple in south Delhi, said: "Since Rakhi is celebrated under the auspices of the full moon, the rituals had to be hurried up before the eclipse sets in at 4pm. The actual shadowing of the moon will begin at 1am but the auspicious hour will end at 4pm."
Dating back to the ancient Hindu scriptures, Raksha Bandhan is usually celebrated during the full moon in the Indian month of Shravan (monsoon).
Keeping in mind that there was to be a lunar eclipse at 4pm yesterday, signalling an end to the auspicious hour, the temples were flooded early in the day with women, adorned in their finery, mostly in traditional Indian attire, all praying for their brothers' wellbeing.
Online Rakhis
For Kavya Jain, a homemaker, the plans took a sudden twist when her brother who was supposed to come down from Mumbai on Rakhi, called her in the morning to say that he would not be able to make it.
So, Jain quickly logged on to her computer and, after selecting the best of the Rakhis available, e-mailed him one.
"Rakhi is such a special occasion. My twin brother, who works in Mumbai, makes it a point to come down to Delhi to celebrate the occasion and then take me on a shopping spree. This is the first time that we are not together," Jain said.
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