Varanasi Ganga Aarti to be performed at 3 pm today due to lunar eclipse

Varanasi: Varanasi's famed tradition of Ganga Aarti, the daily evening ritual at Dashashwamedh Ghat, has been advanced on account of the lunar eclipse on Tuesday.

The timings of the daily ritual for Tuesday has been kept as 3:00 pm which is much before the usual time.

As per Hindu beliefs, no religious ritual can be performed and temples remain closed for a specified period of time before, during and after an eclipse. Considering the same, the organisers of Ganga Aarti have decided to perform the ritual in the afternoon instead of the evening.

In India, the partial lunar eclipse will be visible during the intervening night of July 16 and 17. The Moon will enter penumbra on July 17 around 12.12 am, after which the moon will enter umbra at 1.31 am. The maximum of partial lunar eclipse 2019 will be witnessed around 3 am.