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On June 21, Indians witnessed an annular eclipse, a ‘ring of fire’, when the Moon is so far from the Earth that it does not fully cover the Sun and leaves the outer rims visible. The annual eclipse started at 9:15 AM IST and was visible until 3:04 PM IST from parts of Asia, Africa, the Pacific, the Indian Ocean, Europe and Australia. This was the first eclipse of 2020.
Interestingly, this solar eclipse coincided with the summer solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere has the longest day.
The annular path also passes through Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Pakistan, and China.
A solar eclipse occurs on a new moon day when the Moon comes in between the Earth and the Sun and when all the three objects are aligned.
An annular solar eclipse will occur when the angular diameter of the Moon falls short of that of the Sun so that it cannot cover up the latter completely. As a result, a ring of the Sun’s disk remains visible around the Moon. This gives an image of a ring of fire.
The annular phase was visible on June 21 morning from some places within a narrow corridor of northern part of the country (parts of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttarakhand). A few prominent places within this narrow annularity path are Dehradun, Kurukshetra, Chamoli, Joshimath, Sirsa, Suratgarh.
The first international concert from abroad in 2026 and the 2nd consecutive year of the monthly Carnatic Music concert series of the International Chamber, Parakkadathu Koyickal Trust, Tripunithura, Kerala, have been hosted from OHIO, U.S.A. Vocal Sangeetha Vidushi Ms. Dhivya Senthil Murugan, Violinist Ms. Medha Lalyt Iyer, and Mridangam Vidwan Sri Lalit Subramanian have accompanied on 13-02-2026 from OHIO, USA.
March 22, 2026
SRUTHI MATHAA… LAYA PITHAA… The International Chamber for Indian Music & Culture, an international initiative of Parakkadathu Koyickal Trust, Tripunithura, Kerala, has hosted the 2nd
