Thousands of people thronged various planetaria across the country on Tuesday to view the rare celestial event, the Venus transit, turning the day into a mini-festival even as weather god played spoilsport in Delhi, clouding the Sun for a major part of the transit time.

An international dimension to the event was added with a team of astronomers from the United States visiting India specifically to record it. The US missed major part of the transit witnessing only the end of it.

"It was a rare display of the scientific spirit, as people, instead of shutting themselves at home to ward off evil spirits, took interest in the celestial event," said Debi Prasad Duari, scientific director of M P Birla Planetarium in Kolkata.

"Star gazers have gathered here to watch the once in a lifetime event," Director, Nehru Planetarium, Dr N Rathnasree, said .

Venus appeared as a tiny black dot passing across the face of the Sun in about six hours. It was the historic journey of the brightest planet after about 122 years.

The planet entered the disc of the Sun at 10:43 am and left it by about 4.30 pm. The transit could also be seen from other Asian nations, Africa and Europe. Eastern parts of the US and Australia could see the end of the event.