The long-awaited total solar eclipse was observed in northwestern corner of Bangladesh on Wednesday morning which lasted for about 3-4 minutes.

Despite the cloudy weather, tens of thousands of astronomy enthusiasts gathering in the South Asian country's northwestern Panchagarh district, about 440 km from Dhaka, observed the celestial spectacle.

Panchagarh district, the nearest town to the central line of the Umbra was earlier declared as the Capital of the Total Solar Eclipse 2009 in Bangladesh.

The total solar eclipse started there at about 07:56 AM local time (0056 GMT) and lasted about 3-4 minutes, when the town experienced a nighttime-like situation.

Crowded people were clapping their hands to celebrate what they have seen, showed live broadcast pictures of the local TV channel DIGANTA.

President of the Total Solar Eclipse Observation Committee in Bangladesh, AR Khan, told Xinhua on Tuesday that Wednesday's total solar eclipse is a historic event in Bangladesh as there will be no total solar eclipse observable from the country until August 14, 2114.

It is also the "longest duration" eclipse in the country's history, said Khan who is also President of the Bangladesh Astronomical Society (BAS), a platform of astronomy enthusiasts established in 1984.

The Local private news agency the bdnews24.com said some 30 million people in Bangladesh's northern districts, where the total solar eclipse was best observed, fell in shadow of full eclipse.

Meanwhile, millions of people in Bangladesh observed the partial solar eclipse on Wednesday morning from about 7:00 AM local time (0000 GMT) which will end at about 9:00 AM (0200 GMT).

The range of the solar eclipse will be between 83 percent and 100 percent eclipse throughout Bangladesh.

(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2009)