Frogs 'married' to please rain gods 'divorced' in 2 months after surplus rainfall

Months after two frogs were married in a superstitious bid to appease rain gods, they were divorced to stop the rains in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. This was due to the flood-like situation created in the region over the past few weeks.

The two frogs were married in an extravagant ceremony on July 19 in Bhopal, to invoke rain gods in Madhya Pradesh. The divorce was conducted by the members of the Om Shiv Seva Shakti Mandal of Indrapuri. During the divorce proceedings, there was chanting of mantras to appease the gods.

The rain gods seemed to have been really pleased with the marriage of the frogs since the region has received more than enough rain with 26 per cent more rainfall than usual. The downpour created a flood-like situation and out of desperation, the Om Shiv Seva Shakti members divorced them to put an end to the deluge.

On Sunday, the rains broke a 13-year-old record for the most rains in the city of Bhopal.

Reports state that Bhopal recorded 48 mm of rains on Wednesday and two gates of the Bhopal Kaliyasot Dam and the Bhadbhada Dama and three gates of the Kolar Dam were opened to reduce the risk of flooding.

Bhopal is not the only place where frogs were married. In the first week of June 2019, two frogs were married in Karnataka's Udupi district. The marriage ceremony, which was called 'Manduka Kalyanotsava', was conducted to get the much-needed rain in the region as the south-west monsoon made its way to Kerala after a delay of 10 days.

The frogs, named Varsha and Varuna, got married in a grand marriage ceremony, which was organised by the Udupi Zilla Nagarika Samiti Trust and Pancharatna Trust. This was conducted after the procession of the two frogs from the Maruthi Veethika ended at Hotel Kidiyoor.