Croaking for Rain? Frog Wedding Arranged to Appease God for Early Rains
Weddings have been always a part of our lives and now and you might just be bored of all the “normal” bride and groom wedding highlights. But what if the bride and groom that you see in the weddings are not human but frogs? The bride is the ‘Female Frog’ and the groom is the ‘Male Frog’?.
Udupi: Taking the initiative to appease the Rain God in a novel way and Udupi Nagarika Vedike President Nityananda Volakad, known for his ”innovative” ideas, arranged a marriage of the frogs in Udupi on Saturday June 8. The two frogs were attired in Custom/specially made outfits for the ceremony and after they were married they were set free to enjoy their life of wedded bliss. Hundreds of invited guests participated in the frogs wedding, and the ritual began by catching hold of a male and a female frog from two different villages. Isn’t this an interesting wedding to attend? Yes, it was said the guests who partook in the wedding ceremony.
As per the invitation for the wedding released stated that it is a wedding of “Chi. Varun, son of Kalsanka, with Chi. Sou. Varsha, daughter of Kolalgiri Kilinje, so it did! The Wedding of Male frog namely “Varun” from Kalsanka and female frog namely “Varsha” from Keelinje near Kolagiri were performed true as per Hindu tradition. For the second time in the history of this district, such a wedding was held under the leadership of Nithyanand Olakad. The frogs were taken in a decorated Cycle auto from Chittaranjan Circle, passing through KEB office, Mithra Hospital, Daina Circle, KM Marg, Triveni Circle, and Service Bus-stand and culminating at Kidiyoor Hotel, where the wedding took place.
After reaching to Kidiyoor Hotel premise the wedding rituals were held under Hindu traditions. Interestingly the frog couple will be sent on a Honey moon to Mannapalla near Manipal. The main intention in arranging this Frog Wedding was to appease the rain Gods who seem to have deserted the coastal district over the past few months, and the people have been struggling to get water for drinking and other basic purposes.
Speaking to Mangalorean.com Nithyananda Olakad said “Our ancestors had a belief that monsoon is the season for mating frogs and when frog croaks, it rains. So to please Varuna Deva (the rain-god), the frog marriage is performed to usher in rainfall. Eight years ago the same type of wedding was performed in Udupi and we had received heavy rainfall in the district. The two frogs were caught from two different villages on Friday evening and were made ready for the wedding ceremony. Therefore, today we had organized the traditional frogs marriage rituals like human beings, so it could usher rainfall in the coming days. We have a feeling that this tradition will help, and we could see rains soon”.
