Bengaluru planetarium makes arrangements for viewing year’s last lunar eclipse, temples close early

BENGALURU: With the last lunar eclipse of the year occurring in the wee hours on Sunday, the Jawaharlal Nehru planetarium in the city has made special arrangements for public viewing of the phenomenon.

The blood moon will be visible tonight and the planetarium will allow visitors from midnight itself. The eclipse will occur in India between 11.31 pm today and 3.36 am tomorrow and can be viewed with the naked eye. No protective eyewear or other visual aids will be necessary, according to scientists at the planetarium.

In Bengaluru, only 6 per cent of the eclipse will be visible and the planetarium has made arrangement to view the phenomenon with binoculars and telescope. There will be no age bar or restriction on the number of visitors, the planetarium administration said.

The Banashankari and Gavi Gangadhareshwara temples in Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, several major temples in Bengaluru will remain closed from today evening while some will be open in view of the lunar eclipse which will occur in Bengaluru between 1.05 am and 2.24 am on Sunday.

The Banashankari temple and the the Gavi Gangadhareshwara temples close at 3 pm today and will open at 4.30 am tomorrow. The Gali Anjaneya temple and the Kadu Malleshwara temple will close at 6 pm and 6 pm and 6.30 pm, respectively today and open at 6 am tomorrow. The Panchamukhi temple in Basavanagudi closed on 12 pm and will open at 6 am on Sunday.

The Narasimha Jhira temple in Bidar and Renuka Yellamma Devi temple in Ballari.

The Dodda Ganapathi and the Annamma temple will remain open as usual while pujas and other rituals will be performed at the Bande Mahakali temple till10.30 pm after which the temple will close.

Elsewhere, the historical Narasimha Jharni (Jhira) temple in Bidar will close at 6 pm after daylong rituals and open tomorrow at 8 am. All the historical temples in Vijayanagara, including the Hampi Virupaksha temple, will also close at 6 pm and reopen tomorrow at usual.

The Ghati Subrahmanya temple in Dodaballapur and the Nimishamba temple near Srirangapatna.

Huligemma temple in Koppal will close at 7.30 pm and open tomorrow at 6 am. At Mantralaya, all activities have been advanced in the afternoon and darshan will be allowed till 8.30 pm.

The Kadri temple in Mangaluru and the Chamundeshwari temple atop Chamundi Hills in Mysuru.

The Nimishamba temple near Srirangapatna will also close at 6 pm today while Chamundeshwari temple atop Chamundi Hills will close at 6 after the Chamundi teppotsava.

The Goravanahalli Mahalakshmi temple and the Udupi Sri Krishna Math.

The Kadri Manjunatheshwara, Dharmastala Manjunatheshwara temple, Kukke Subrahmanya will also close early today evening. In Kolar, all the major temples coming under the Hindu Religious Institutions & Charitable Endowments Department will close at 1 pm. Major temples in Ramanagara, Chitradurga and other places too will close early today.

There will be no mass feeding at Udupi Sri Krishna temple tonight while special rituals will be conducted during the eclipse at the Kollur Mookambika temple in Udupi district.