Surya Grahan 2022
Surya Grahan 2022: A solar eclipse occurs on a new moon day when it comes between the Earth and the Sun. It then partially or totally blocks the Sun from the Earth for some time. We will witness the first partial solar eclipse of the year on April 30, but it will not be visible in India. However, the celestial phenomenon will strongly impact people's life. There are several myths and beliefs pertaining to the eclipse including the consumption of food, and wearing certain types of clothes among others. It is often suggested that people must avoid eating and cooking food during the eclipse.
As the earth will experience first solar eclipse, let's check out certain myths and beliefs related to diet and eating habits.
- According to scriptures and traditional folklore, grahan period is inauspicious and one should avoid eating food then because it leads to many diseases.
- According to the holy Skanda Purana, people who even serve food during this time, suffer from bad health afterward. It is said that people might fall sick during the eclipse and therefore they should fast during that time.
- One should eat easy-to-digest foods minimum of two hours before the eclipse. It is also believed that the rays can ruin the properties of raw foods and make them unfit for eating.
- Avoid hard to digest food, non-vegetarian food, breads, onion, garlic, alcohol or fermented foods as they are hard to get digested by the body or disrupt the digestive process
- Children, pregnant woman, elderly and patients can eat sattvik food during the eclipse.
- As per Indian belief, adding tulsi leaves to cooked food removes all the ill effects. The anti-bacterial properties of leaves prevent the growth of bacteria.
Scientific opinion
In science, forbidding eating and cooking food during the eclipse is considered a myth. NASA claims that if it is true then the rays would not only damage the cooked food, but also the packaged foods, and crops in the field as well.
