Villagers perform weddings of donkeys, frogs to appease rain

Shaken by the inordinate delay in the onset of monsoon, farmers and villagers across Shimoga district celebrated "weddings" of donkeys and frogs besides offering food to rain God, praying for rains.
All the villagers of Devra Narsipura in Bhadravathi taluk thronged their village temple to perform the weddings of a pair of donkeys, which were first given a fresh bath and later decorated with new clothes and flowers. They were taken in a procession through the village before the celebrations. The local priest performed the marriages according to Hindu rituals praying to rain god to bestow its grace.
At Bommnahalli near Sorab, people held weddings of a pair of frogs fetched from a nearby tank. One villager held the frogs in his hand while local priest performed rituals. Later villagers joined in a procession to leave the wedded frogs back into the tank.

According to villagers, it is an age-old custom to perform weddings of these animals to seek immediate blessings of rain God.
Meanwhile, alarmed by the growing crisis of power in the state, power minister D K Shiva Kumar offered special pooja at "Rushya Shrunga" temple at Kigga yesterday.
He said the deity of the temple believed as Rain God will certainly bestow its grace. He said he has firm belief that "God will not let us down".
Dry spell all over Malenad areas in the Western Ghats and continued depletion of water level in all reservoirs has caused anxiety over farming activities, drinking water and power generation.