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Frog marriage in Assam to please rain gods by
Peter Alex Todd Chipoha
village (Assam): Fed up with the prolonged dry spell in the region, villagers
in Assam married off frogs in a unique custom to please the rain god, asking for
an early monsoon. Residents of the entire Chipoha village turned out to witness
the unconventional marriage ceremony of the two frogs, caught by the villagers
themselves. The frogs were decked up with fine clothes. The female frog was even
gifted a necklace by the village women for the marriage, which was conducted by
a priest according to traditional Hindu rituals. The residents believed that the
marriage would bring plenty of rainfall to their village, which has been grappling
with a prolonged dry spell for past couple of months. "It's a traditional belief
that when a frog marriage is performed, rain god is pleased and it rains. Since
there has been no rain for the past couple of months, we have performed this frog
marriage to invoke Barun Devata. I am sure the rain will come very soon," said
Deepika Gogoi, a resident. The marriage was a desperate measure by the villagers
to get rainfall in the parched region. "The marriage went off well. Our region
is absolutely parched and we need rain. We didn't know what else to do. We hope
that now the rains will finally come and people can start cultivation," said Uttam
Goswami, a priest. The farmers in Assam are facing major problems due to the protracted
dry spell in the region. The lack of water has also affected their crops, mainly
paddy. -June 5, 2009
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