Visakhapatnam: Hundreds of people, a majority of them children, wearing protective glasses gathered at the RK Beach early this morning to witness the spectacular celestial event, solar eclipse while some others climbed on to the rooftops. The marvel celestial event generated great enthusiasm among the people. Youngsters were busy clicking pictures and selfies during the eclipse. The eclipse pictures flooded the social networking websites throughout the day.
Many senior citizens felt that it was a very special eclipse as it occurred during the sunrise. “In a day, most of the time the moon comes in between the sun and the earth but not in the mornings. From my childhood, I have been witnessing solar eclipse during sunrise,” said V.R. Rao, a senior citizen.The observation of eclipse was organised from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. at the Ramakrishna Beach in the city by the Planetary Society.
Many were seen offering prayers to the Sun god during the partial solar eclipse. After the solar eclipse, people took a dip in the sea, according to the tradition. Many people had to take dip for the two consecutive days as it was Mahashivaratri on Tuesday. Some people lamented that the administration should have conducted special arrangements on such occasions. “Vizag is a beautiful place and it is a different experience to see the sunrise over the sea. With the help of telescope and other instruments, it could be observed very clearly,” said R. Ramesh, who was at the beach with his daughter to see the eclipse. Tourists also enjoyed the moment. “I was clicking pictures of the sun as it appeared different, but was unaware of the eclipse till I saw the arrangements here,” said Amit Mandal from Kolkata.
