Man Marries Dog

[2desi]

Crowds flock to monkey 'wedding'

26 Feb 08 06:37

Some 3,000 villagers have attended an elaborate Hindu wedding ceremony in eastern India for two monkeys.

The "bride" was dressed in a five-metre long sari and decked in flowers. The ceremony took place last Thursday in Ghanteswara village in Orissa state.

The guests were served a feast of rice, lentils, vegetables, fish and sweets.

Monkeys are revered idols in Hindu mythology. But the couples that took in and "married" off the two monkeys in Orissa say they love them as pets.

The monkey marriage took place some 200km (125 miles) from the Orissa state capital, Bhubaneswar.

The "groom", a three-year-old male monkey named Manu, was taken by procession to a temple in the company of hundreds of bemused onlookers, accompanied by loud music, dancing and fireworks.

'Unique experience'

Women welcomed the groom with loud, synchronised ululations typical in a Hindu marriage while priests chanted sacred hymns.

"It was a unique experience for me. It was the first time I conducted a marriage between two animals. But I followed all the rituals that I do in human marriages," said Daitari Dash, the priest.

Women prepared the female monkey, named Jhumuri, as they would a human bride, draping her in a red sari and smearing her with sandalwood paste.

The monkeys were showered with gifts by those present. They included a gold necklace for the bride, donated by a local businessman.

"I feel as if my own daughter is getting married. I cannot bear the thought that she would not be with us anymore," Mamina, the woman who has been looking after the female monkey said.

Mamina has been looking after Jhumuri since her husband found her at a local temple.

The male monkey, Manu, was found in a mango orchard in a neighbouring village by a couple who raised it as their pet.

The two monkeys, who were kept in chains before the marriage, have now been released by their owners.

They have been spotted hanging out at the temple where the "marriage" took place.

A local villager, Mitrabhanu Dutta, said the event was a "nice way to release the monkeys from captivity".

Source: BBC South Asia

[2desi]

Rajasthan village celebrates cow-bull wedding in style

Jhalawar (Rajasthan) : It was a wedding complete with chanting of hymns, rituals, music, sweets and many guests - only it wasn't the usual marriage in Rajasthan as the bride and groom were a cow and a bull!

The marriage of Kaushalya and Kanhaiya Lal, as the animals are called, was solemnised late Monday amid much fanfare at a temple in the otherwise sleepy village of Hemda in Jhalawar district, over 300 km from the state capital Jaipur.

Scores of people attended the unique wedding as the cow Kaushalya, decked up in bridal finery and henna, went round the sacred fire with the bull Kanhaiya Lal, who was also beautified with accessories. The ceremony was conducted as per traditional Hindu rites.

The bull's wedding procession passed through the main street of the village in the evening and people were seen dancing to the music played by the accompanying band.

"The procession was accompanied by lights, fireworks, music and dance," said Bablu Bheel, the bull's owner who also performed the rituals that a father would usually do.

"It was just like any other normal wedding. Ladies led the procession, singing wedding songs," he told IANS.

The marriage party procession reached the Pipleshwar Mahadev Mandir, a temple dedicated to Hindu god Shiva, where the two animals tied the knot.

"I was really excited. It was a different experience to perform rituals as the father of a cow," said Kailash Chandra Soni, who owns Kaushalya.

A reception was also hosted on the occasion and sweets made of 40 kg sugar were distributed to all guests. The newly weds also got sweets, besides some green leafy vegetables.

The marriage wasn't a one-day affair as a henna ceremony was held for Kaushalya Sunday. Villagers were thrilled about being a part of the unique wedding.

"This is the first time such a ceremony took place in our village. I attended it and it was a unique experience. While I was part of the groom's procession, my younger brother received me from the girl's side," said Ram Bhan, a villager.

"These kinds of weddings were a regular feature during ancient times in India. But now they have become a rarity. It is believed that conducting a ceremony like this on 'Somvati Amavasya' (a new moon day falling on Monday that is considered auspicious) brings good luck and prosperity to the village," a village priest said.

Man 'marries' hill to end Maoist menace

December 29th, 2007

Ranchi : A tribal man married a hill in a symbolic gesture to end Maoist insurgency in Jamshedpur district of Jharkhand. The man is already married with two children.

The 'marriage' was solemnised in Bomaru village of Ghatshila block in Jamshedpur on Thursday, 170 km from the state capital Ranchi. According to reports in the local media, Nandi Munda, 30, 'married' a hill named Lakhasaini to end the Maoist terror in the area.

Munda, dressed as a traditional bridegroom, went to marry the hill accompanied by hundreds of baratis (revellers). A tribal priest presided over the wedding rituals. The wedding was followed by a feast attended by hundreds of people. The menu included mutton and handia, a local rice brew that tribals love.

After the wedding, the local youths constituted a private army which will guard the villages against the Maoist rebels and fight them.

Munda said he 'married' the hill because he was told to do so by the goddess of the hills. "One day, the goddess of hill appeared in my dream. She asked me to marry her to end the menace of the Maoist rebels and help the villagers live in peace," Munda said. The villagers hope that the wedding will help them thwart the rebels.

"The goddess of the hill is very powerful. The area will be blessed by the goddess after this marriage," said Bishnoi Munda, another villager. Maoist rebels are active in 18 of the 24 districts of the state. Nearly 1,000 people, including 645 civilians, have been killed in the last seven years in Jharkhand.

Marrying a hill to end the misery is not new to Jharkhand. Two years ago, a youth had married a hill in the same district to cure his mother.

[2desi]

Children marry pups to keep evil at bay

Monday, 18 February , 2008

Kulupdanga (Jharkhand): Three boys and two girls were married to puppies in the superstition that it would ward off evil at this remote tribal-dominated village in Jharkhand's Saraikela-Kharswan district today.

Salu Banra, the mother of one of the girls, 15-year-old Puspa, a student of class seven in a government school, said, "This is a custom. We set the puppy free after the marriage."

The upper tooth appearing in either a girl or a boy is considered inauspicious by the Ho tribe which lives in this village. "Marriage to puppies of the opposite gender gets rid of the evil," said some of the other villagers.

They said that six marriages between puppies and boys and girls had taken place yesterday. The pup-human marriage takes place on only two days in a year -- the second and third of the month of Maghe. Today was the third of Maghe.

Full-grown dogs are not used in the marriages but puppies which are called 'Pida Panda' (one who drives away evil).

All rituals and customs of a tribal marriage takes place with a priest officiating and guests invited, entertained by songs and dances, the villagers told a PTI correspondent.

Dowry in cash is sought and given. The bride is also given new clothes to wear.

Only in case of smearing of sindur (vermillion), it is applied not to the puppies or humans but to a tree known locally as 'renge banam'.

When contacted, SDO Dinesh Prasad said, "This is a tradition. As long as they don't disturb others, we don't interfere."

[jassa]

no religion has superstitions ... its in our mind ... each and every religion has one thing ie brhamgeyan and a different way to attain it ...

[chatanga]

my relative had a grandchild who had an upper tooth protude first did some of that superstitious ritual thing , cos they were shiittin it , that they will have bad luck !

jokers.

that is sooo funny!

[2desi]

Why do Punjabi people think that owls are "bad luck"?

[Guest Chris_Latta]

You guys are pretty funny.

[RKang17]

:lol:

Proves that ppl can b real dumb <_<

[sum chumaari]

lolllllllllllllllllllllllllll sum ppl man! cnt believe them! anyways i dnt beieve its really a marriage if 2 humans arent involved, coz only humans can understand what marriage means, animals dnt understand that!!!!!!!!!! and it is cruelty to animals..

the woman that married the cobra suprised me...imagine their suhag raat lol.........

:S

[saint-soldier]

lol @ the monkey marriage...

People keep getting more dumb everyday (