As a result, there's been unrest in the country and the whole of society. I am expecting the same thing this time. That was, however, dismissed by rationalists as utter nonsense. The only impact Indians were unanimous about was the harmful effect of the eclipse on the eyes. Although the moon reduces the visible light from the sun, making it possible for people to look directly at it, the harmful ultraviolet rays remain.
Blindness can result from looking at the eclipse without protection.
Sellers of solar filters made a neat profit. In Cambodia, thousands of citizens and visiting tourists marveled at the eclipse as it cast shadows over the famed temples of Angkor. Some 30,000 soldiers and police guarded against possible attacks from Khmer Rouge guerrillas. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, where tradition holds that a giant bird swallows the sun during an eclipse, some islanders played instruments and chanted to send the bird away. For all the wonder and ceremony, there was also tragedy Monday.