Frogs married in Jharkhand to please rain god

Beautiful invitation cards, a feast for nearly 500 guests, a car for the groom and chanting of Sanskrit verses -- although all the usual customs were observed, this was an Indian wedding with a difference. Those tying the knot at the special event in Jharkhand's Chatra district were frogs.

Desperate residents of Simeria block in the drought-hit district, about 190 km from here, organised a wedding of frogs Wednesday to appease the rain god.

"We believe that the rain god is appeased by the marriage of frogs. Now that the ceremony has been performed, we hope that the district, which has been facing droughts for the last four years, will get good rainfall," said Vinod Bihari, a priest who conducted the marriage ceremony.

Seva Ram, a farmer, "adopted" the female frog and performed the ritual of 'kanyadan'.

"I will keep both frogs in my house. It is my duty to feed them as I did the kanyadan of the female frog. We hope the marriage will end our woes," he said.

After the wedding, sweets were distributed, people blessed the newly-wed couple and prayed to god for rainfall.

Jharkhand has declared four districts -- Chatra, Palamau, Lathear and Garwah -- drought hit.

The affected districts have received rainfall of less than 100 mm so far this monsoon. As a result, the paddy crop has been badly hit.