In an attempt to appease the rain god, the people of Udupi Citizen Forum arranged the marriage of two frogs on 8th June in Udupi city of Karnataka.
The frogs, who were given the names of Varuna and Varsha before the ceremony, were married according to the tradition of “mandooka parinaya” (“marriage of frogs”).
The ceremony was conducted by members of the Udupi Citizen Forum, who seemed to believe that this would bring rain.
Locals believe this ritual, called Mandooka Parinaya, will get them rains and respite from the scorching heat.
According to the Udupi Citizen Forum (UCF), the rain god seems to have deserted the coastal district over the past few months, and the people are struggling for water.
The wedding, UCF feels, will get much-needed rains for the locals. The wedding ritual began by catching hold of a ma
le and a female frog from two different villages. Hundreds of invited guests attended the wedding.
The frogs, unaware of their fate, were caught from different villages and dressed in custom-made clothes for the ceremony. “The wedding of male frog namely “Varun” from Kalsanka and female frog namely “Varsha” from Keelinje near Kolagiri was performed as per the Hindu tradition.
The newly-wed couple was sent on a honeymoon to Mannapalla near Manipal. Calling off their relationship was the
only way to save parts of Madhya Pradesh that were put under alert, leading to the frogs’ “divorce”. Maybe they will go their separate ways and reminisce about what was once a good time for them, what with their rendezvous in the rains.
An anomaly, to begin with, such rituals often take a turn for the torturous for animals and have often faced backl
ash for deliberately removing animals from their natural surroundings.
In September, MP received an increase in rainfall by 26% and experienced flood-like situations in most parts, while Bhopal recorded 48mm of heavy rainfall. It’s true…desperate times do call for desperate measures.
