India To Witness Rare Lunar Eclipse On September 7, 2025 With Traditional Precautions Advised

A total lunar eclipse will be visible across India on Sunday, September 7, 2025, coinciding with Bhādrapad Shukla Purnima. The phenomenon will occur under the Shatabhisha Nakshatra in Aquarius, according to astrologer Chandra Prakash Agnihotri.

The sūtak period, the time traditionally considered inauspicious before an eclipse, will begin nine hours earlier, at 12:57 PM, with the partial eclipse touching at 9:57 PM, reaching its maximum at 11:41 PM and concluding at 1:27 AM on September 8, 2025.

Traditional Restrictions During the Eclipse

Religious authorities advise devotees to observe customary precautions.

Priests traditionally keep temples closed during the eclipse and urge devotees not to touch deities or perform routine worship until after the event. They also discourage eating, cooking or cutting vegetables during the sūtak and eclipse periods.

It is recommended that pregnant women take particular care by staying indoors, avoiding eating or drinking during the eclipse, and applying a thin layer of cow dung paste on the abdomen, following a long-held folk practice believed to offer protection.

Astrologers encourage placing kusha grass or tulsi leaves in food to maintain its sanctity, reciting the guru mantra or, if unavailable, the Brahmin Gayatri mantra, and participating in Hari kirtan or readings from the Ramayana during the eclipse.

Astrologers also recommend that devotees bathe in the Ganga or other holy waters immediately after the eclipse and perform charitable food donations.

Children, elderly people and those who are unwell are traditionally exempt from these rules.

Indians will actively follow the upcoming celestial event, combining their astronomical curiosity with centuries-old ritual observances.

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