IANS

Patna: In a small village in Bihar's Darbhanga district a wedding took place on Saturday in the presence of nearly 100 people in a temple. But it was no ordinary ceremony, for it was between two frogs, and was carried out to appease the rain gods.

In a bid to please the Hindu rain God Indra, two frogs were married at Fhefhra village under the Bahadurpur police station in Darbhanga district, which is about 200 km from Patna, villagers said.

"A Hindu priest conducted the marriage of frogs. Nearly 100 villagers, mostly women attended the marriage that took place in a temple," a villager, Mr Mukesh Singh, said.

It is a folk belief in India that a wedding between frogs will bring rains.

Two healthy frogs were caught from separate places around the village by local residents for the ceremony.

"The frogs were washed with clean water and decorated with flowers," said another villager, Mr Sahdeo Paswan.

"After the marriage, the newly wed amphibians were blessed by the residents of the village and released in to a nearby pond with the hope that their marriage would make the rain god happy," said Singh.

"The marriage was organised because the region was facing scarcity of water," he added.

A major part of Bihar is witnessing a drought following a delay in the arrival of the monsoon and this has become a cause of concern for the people, particularly farmers in the state.

"Usually it used to rain heavily by June 20 and the farmers used to get the paddy saplings ready for planting. But this time there is no rain till now," said villager, Mr Santosh Kumar.