dangerous times. As in many other cul-
tures, Indian astronomers were able to
figure out the motion of the moon, and
thus could predict both solar and lunar
eclipses fairly accurately. The tradi-
tional mythic explanation for eclipses
comes from the story of the Tortoise
avatar, in which the godsand demons
agree to join forces to churn the Ocean
of Milk into the nectar of immortality,
which they will then share. The gods
manage to trick the demons out of
their share, but as the gods divide it
among themselves, the demon Sainhikeya
slips into their midst in disguise. As
Sainhikeya begins to drink, the sunand
moon alert the god Vishnu to
Sainhikeya’s presence, and Vishnu
quickly uses his discus to cut off the
demon’s head. Yet since the demon
drank some of the nectar, both his head
and trunk become immortal, with the
head becoming Rahu and the trunk
becoming Ketu. Rahu has particular
enmity for the sun and moon, the
deitiesresponsible for his demise, and
tries to swallow them whenever he
meets them in the heavens. He always
succeeds, but since he no longer has a
body to digest them, they escape
unharmed through Rahu’s severed neck.
This association with Rahu makes
eclipses inauspicious and ritually dan-
gerous times, and in popular culture
eclipses are believed to emit malevo-
lent rays that have a physical quality.
Many people respond to this danger by
remaining indoors for the duration of
an eclipse. During an eclipse, people
will often perform rites of protection,
including giving donations (dana) as a
way to give away potential bad luck.
Pregnant womenmust take particular
care, lest the inauspiciousnessof the
time affect the growing child. Some
believe that pregnant women should
lie completely motionless during an
eclipse, fearing that the child will be
born missing the body part corre-
sponding to the one that the woman
moved. After the eclipse, people bathe
(snana) and perform other rites of
purification to remove any possible
lingering taint of impurity (ashaucha)
or bad luck.Eighteen Minor Works
(Padinenkilkanakku) Name given a col-
lection of early Tamil works of literature,
which was complete by the late fifth
century C.E. All of these works have
a moral emphasis and aim to inculcate
ethical or religious values in the hearers.
The two most famous examples in
this collection are the Tirukkura land
the Naladiyar.Ekadashi
(eleventh day) Hindu religious life is
primarily based on the lunar calendar,
in which the yearcontains twelve lunar
months, each of which is divided
equally into “dark” (waning) and
“bright” (waxing) halves. Ekadashi is
the name of the eleventh day in both
the waning and the waxing half of the
lunar month. Certain days during each
half of the lunar cycle are deemed
sacred to particular gods and goddess-
es, and these are days for special wor-
ship. The ekadashi or eleventh day in
each half of the lunar month is deemed
sacred to the god Vishnu. With one
exception, each of the twenty-four
ekadashis has a separate name, charter
myth, prescribed rites, and promised
result for fulfilling it. Pious Vaishnavas
observe each of these twenty-four festi-
val days. In their order of occurrence
throughout the year, the ekadashis are:
Papamochani Ekadashi and Kamada
Ekadashi during the lunar month of
Chaitra, Baruthani Ekadashi and
Mohini Ekadashi during the lunar
month of Baisakh, Achala Ekadashi
and Nirjala Ekadashi during the lunar
month of Jyeshth, Yogini Ekadashi and
Devshayani Ekadashi during the lunar
month of Ashadh, Kamika Ekadashi
and Putrada Ekadashi during the lunar
month of Shravan, Aja Ekadashi and
Parivartini Ekadashi during the lunar
month of Bhadrapada, Indira Ekadashi
and Papankusha Ekadashi during theEighteen Minor Works