Gujarat temples reschedules timings due to lunar eclipse on Sharad Purnima
Going to offer your prayers to a temple in the coming few days? Check out the change in timings before you make that trip
Updated: Oct 26th, 2023
Temples in Gujarat have rescheduled their timings on the significant day of Sharad Purnima, as the festival will be coinciding with a lunar eclipse (chandra grahan). The darshan timings for temples at Ambaji, Dwarka, and Somnath have been changed for Sharad Purnima.
The Ambaji temple will see a slight change in bhog (offerings/prasad) and aarti timings. Owing to the lunar eclipse on Oct 28, the traditional offering of doodh poha will be offered to the deity a day earlier on Oct 27.
Moreover, the temple authorities will close the temple at 3.30 p.m. after the temple’s sandhya aarti (evening aarti) will wind up between 2 and 2.30 p.m. on Oct 28.
The Pavagadh temple will also be closed until noon on the day.
On the other hand, the Chamunda Mata temple in Chotila, Surendranagar, one of the shaktipeeths will be kept open for the devotees the whole day.
Dwarkadhish and Somnath temple timings
The traditional ‘raas utsav’ of the Dwarkadhish temple will be organised a day earlier, on the evening of Oct 27, at the onset of a lunar eclipse. On Oct 28, the temple will be closed from 3 p.m. and will be opened on Oct 29, as per regular timings.
Shree Somnath Jyotirling Temple, in Somnath, darshan will be closed after 1.48 p.m.
Various rituals of shayan aarti, abhishekam, bilva puja, and dhwaja puja have been cancelled in the temple. However, the sundar kand programme will be performed on the premises on the scheduled time.
Sharad Purnima, a significant full moon day of the Hindu lunar month of Ashwin (September-October), is considered to be auspicious, as it is said that divine dance happened on the day between Lord Krishna and the gopis (milkmaids of Vraj).
It is a festival of dance and celebration where people devour traditional offerings of doodh poha under the bright moonlight of the Purnima’s moon.
