Jenniblu
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8113753/
KHOCHAKANDAR, India - Two giants toads were married in a traditionalHindu ceremony in eastern India at the weekend by villagers hoping topropitiate the rain gods and end a dry spell.
Some 400 people cheered and blew conches as women put streaks ofvermilion on the female toads head while a band played music andpriests solemnized the marriage to the chanting of Hindu hymns.
The toads were picked up from separate ponds, dressed in bright redclothes and brought to the marriage venue in a decorated palanquin inKhochakandar village in West Bengal state late on Sunday.
The married toads were released into a pond after the ceremony in thevillage about 225 miles north of the state capital, Calcutta.
Our forefathers used to organize marriages of toads to get sufficientrain for cultivation. We hope rain will be coming very soon, saidKonica Mandal, one of the organizers of the wedding.
The village has been reeling under a severe heat wave with temperaturestouching 111 degrees (44 degrees Celsius), drying up ponds and creatingproblems for farmers and their crops.
The southwest monsoon hit Indias southern coast on Sunday, about fourdays later than normal, but it will be some time before the rains windtheir way to the rest of the country.
A heat wave sweeping India, Bangladesh and Nepal has killed nearly 100 people over the past two weeks.
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
KHOCHAKANDAR, India - Two giants toads were married in a traditionalHindu ceremony in eastern India at the weekend by villagers hoping topropitiate the rain gods and end a dry spell.
Some 400 people cheered and blew conches as women put streaks ofvermilion on the female toads head while a band played music andpriests solemnized the marriage to the chanting of Hindu hymns.
The toads were picked up from separate ponds, dressed in bright redclothes and brought to the marriage venue in a decorated palanquin inKhochakandar village in West Bengal state late on Sunday.
The married toads were released into a pond after the ceremony in thevillage about 225 miles north of the state capital, Calcutta.
Our forefathers used to organize marriages of toads to get sufficientrain for cultivation. We hope rain will be coming very soon, saidKonica Mandal, one of the organizers of the wedding.
The village has been reeling under a severe heat wave with temperaturestouching 111 degrees (44 degrees Celsius), drying up ponds and creatingproblems for farmers and their crops.
The southwest monsoon hit Indias southern coast on Sunday, about fourdays later than normal, but it will be some time before the rains windtheir way to the rest of the country.
A heat wave sweeping India, Bangladesh and Nepal has killed nearly 100 people over the past two weeks.
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
