Assam: Locals resort to age-old tradition of frog wedding to appease rain god

Assam witnessed an extraordinary event, where two souls were united solely with the intention of appeasing the rain god, however, the bride and groom appeared to be without any embellishments and were silent throughout the ceremony as the bride and the groom were frogs!

According to mythological belief, holding a frog marriage ensures ample rainfall. 

As part of the wedding, a wild female frog is married off with its male counterpart with proper rituals, replete with a priest.

Speaking to the local media, a resident from Assam's Puranigudam, Baharpota said, "We need the rain. Due to a lack of rain, farmers are facing a lot of trouble and to test if the mythology truly works we conducted the wedding and to our surprise, it worked."

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It is to be mentioned here that, the farmers are not able to make pre-preparations for agriculture in time due to the lack of rain. 

Like usual marriages, the frog is given joron, ornaments, bed or dowry. 

At such a time, to please the rain god with the desire for adequate rainfall, the farming community in different parts of the state is also performing traditional rituals and pujas. 

While in the this of Puranigudam, the farmers, especially the women, organised a traditional frog wedding, with the hope that the first summer wave of the year would bring rain by any means.

Amazingly it worked as expected! The rains came while the marriage was going on, proving the popular beliefs that have been going on since ancient times. According to legend, after the traditional frog marriage in Baharpata village for ages, the region received heavy rainfall suitable for agriculture.

For more than 2 weeks now, Assam has been facing a heatwave with the maximum temperature touching 38°C frequently. Several cities and towns in the state have witnessed a gradual rise in temperature by 4 to 6 degrees Celsius.

Faced with such intense heat, schools in certain districts have set advanced timings. For instance, the Nagaon district administration received a letter from the inspector of schools, Nagaon, on June 2, 2023, regarding the shifting of normal school time in Nagaon district due to the continuous rise of the Mercury level and prevailing scorching heat.