Bhubaneswar: Stargazers were in for a treat to witness the longest full lunar eclipse of this century taking place on Friday night.

The eclipse will start at 11.54pm, while the total eclipse will begin at 1.02am on Saturday. During the phenomenon, the moon will appear blood red in colour.

A number of activities were held at Pathani Samanta Planetarium here on Friday for the sky enthusiasts.

There was a 15-minute presentation on the lunar eclipse prior to every planetarium show on Friday. As many as four shows were held and those were attended by a large number of youngsters.

Also, a special session was held in the evening, when an interaction session on the phenomenon was held between the public and scientists.

"The partial and total eclipse shall be visible with naked eye in India as well as in all parts of Odisha provided the sky remains clear," said the planetarium's deputy director Subhendu Pattnaik.

Cooking and intake of food as well as all the rituals at the Jagannath Temple in Puri were suspended from 2.54pm, just nine hours before the beginning of the eclipse.

However, the restriction of having food during the eclipse is not applicable to the children, elderly persons and patients.

According to usual practice, the rituals in temples will resume with holy bath of the idols after total eclipse get over. "According to rituals, people can have food after taking a bath and purifying their houses with holy water onece the lunar eclipse gets over. This has been going on for centuries, and it depends on individuals whether to follow it or not," said scientist Anadi Charan Nath.

Earlier this year, there was a total lunar eclipse on January 31 that had lasted one hour and 16 minutes when the moon passed to the south of shadow's centre.

The next total lunar eclipse on January 21, 2019 will be for one hour and two minutes because it will pass to the north of the shadow's centre.