Frog Wedding
© AFPHopping for rain: An Indian village has held a marriage ceremony for two frogs, in hopes that the ceremony will bring some much-needed monsoon rain.
A frog couple have been joined in holy Hindu matrimony by Indian villagers hoping the custom will bring rain.

With five priests chanting scriptures, a frog groom named Punarvasu and his amphibian bride Pushala were married by villagers hoping to summon monsoon rains to their drought-stricken district.

Organiser Nandkumar Pawar says thousands of people gathered on Thursday in a massive tent in Patkhal village for the lavish wedding banquet.

He said on Saturday that the frogs were decorated with flowers and smeared with turmeric, a holy and auspicious ointment. A brass band played Bollywood film songs while the priests blessed the frogs.

The region in Maharashtra state is 400km southeast of Mumbai, India's financial capital.

Frog weddings are practiced in some parts of India and other areas of South Asia.