Monday, February 25, 2008

The Myth of Rahu & The Lunar Eclipse

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The Myth of Rahu & The Lunar Eclipse

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The deities went in search of “Amarit”, the elixir of life or ambrosia. Amarit is made by churning the Sea of Milk, using Mount Mandara as a pivot. Amarit, the elixir of life, is difficult to obtain. The deities and demons had to call a temporary truce and work together to obtain the elixir. The demon named “Rahu” heard about the Amarit. He snuck over to the site where the elixir was being produced and awaited the opportunity to drink it.
The demons thought that they should have been able to drink the elixir. After the Amarit was successfully made, the demons immediately made a grab for the elixir. The deities tried to prevent them from doing so. Narai (The God of Hindus) transformed himself into a beautiful woman to distract the demons. While the demons focussed their attention on the beautiful woman, the deities quickly drank the elixir. Then the demons lost the fight.


During all this time, Rahu had been standing by waiting to snatch the elixir. As the demons and deities battled it out, Rahu seized the elixir and drank it. The Moon and the Sun spotted Rahu drinking the elixir and reported this to Narai.
Narai threw his crystal chakra disk at the demon, cutting the demon’s body in half. However as Rahu had drunk some of the elixir, he did not die.


*Rahu spends his eternity floating around in the sky. He swears vengeance on the Moon and Sun and whenever he sees either of the two, he tries to swallow it. This, according to ancient folk belief, is the mythological cause of the lunar and solar eclipses.


Thai legend says that when the lunar Eclipse happens that means Rahu is trying to swallow the Sun or the Moon. Because of this, Thai people make noise, so Rahu will be scared and cough the Moon or the Sun up.

* http://www.tatnews.org/tourism_news/2837.asp

1 comment:

Richard Blum said...

The Myth of Rahu & The Lunar Eclipse

*
The deities going to in search of “Amarit”,the elixir of life or ambrosia. Amarit is made by churning the Sea of Milk, using Mount Mandara as a pivot. Amarit, the elixir of life, is difficult to obtain. The deities and demons had to call a temporary truce and work together to obtain the elixir. The demon name “Rahu” hears about the Amarit. He sneaks over to the site where the elixir is being produced and awaits the opportunity to drink it.
The demons think that they should be able to drink the elixir. When Amarit is successful. The demons immediately make a grab for the elixir. The deities try to prevent them from doing so. Narai (The God of Hindus) transforms himself into a beautiful woman to distract the demons. While the demons focus their attention on the beautiful woman, the deities quickly drink the elixir. Than the demons lose the fight.
During all this time, Rahu had been standing by waiting for the snatch the elixir. As the demons and deities battle it out, Rahu seizes the elixir and drinks it. The Moon and the Sun spot Rahu drinking the elixir and reports this to Narai.
Narai throws his crystal chakra disk to the demon, cutting of the demon’s body in half. However as Rahu has drunk some of the elixir, he does not die.
*Rahu spends his eternity floating around in the sky. He swears vengeance on the Moon and Sun and whenever he sees either of the two, he tries to swallow it. This, according to ancient folk belief, is the mythological cause of the lunar and solar eclipses
Thai legend says that when the lunar Eclipse happens that mean Rahu tries to swallow the Sun or the moon because of this Thai people make noise, so Rahu will be scared and cough the moon or the sun up.

* http://www.tatnews.org/tourism_news/2837.asp