According to the Hindu (Sanskrit) calender, yesterday was an auspicious day for Hindus. It is the birthday of Hanumaan, greatest devotee of Shri Raamaa and Seetha Devi (incarnations of Mahaa Vishnu and Mahaa Lakshmi during Threthaa yuga).  

Later at night there was a lunar eclipse from around 1 22 AM to 1 53 AM (IST). This cosmo-terrestrial event, which was visible in India and many parts of Asia, was also spiritually important to Hindus. Many Hindus would have performed special worship of the Almighty during this time. (Lunar and Solar eclipses are not periodic annual events).

In ancient India, sages such as Aryabhatta gave detailed scientific explanations, estimation of future eclipses and all measurements involved in eclipses with great precision. These sages were well qualified in Hindu religious disciplines as well as in their chosen scientific domains such as astronomy and medicine. In other words they were also engineers, doctors and so on. They made their discoveries years before their western counterparts. However, their discoveries didn't lead to significant materialistic benefits as they thought that spiritual aims were more important than materialistic objectives (though both were necessary) and that materialistic desires should not lead communities away from eco-friendly living. Their point of view seems to be very correct (as we can infer from most of what we see in today's materialistic world with several problems). 

Though the time duration of last night's eclipse was only about half an hour, I'm glad that I was able to perform the ritual (expected to be performed by people like me who belong to Madhwa community) as perfectly as possible, by God's Grace.