A History of the Mahrattas v1.c25.29

v1.c25.29

¹ [According to Hindu belief an eclipse is caused by a demon, Rāhu, swallowing the sun or moon, and people must avoid pollution for the period of the eclipse. Food and drink taken during an eclipse possess poisonous properties, and people must therefore abstain from them while the eclipse lasts. They bathe at the end of the eclipse, to rid themselves of the pollution caused by the supposed decease of the planet. In Madras, people beat drums in the hope of scaring away the demon, and the belief in the calamitous character of an eclipse is so strong that no marriage takes place during the month in which an eclipse falls. See Crooke, P.R. and F.L., i. 18-23.]