We’ve all heard the classic fable about the girl who kisses a frog who turns into a prince, but a couple of girls in India are taking it to heart by marrying frogs.  The traditional ceremony took place as part of the “Pongal” harvest tradition.  The ceremony is meant to prevent mysterious diseases in the village.

The ceremony has its roots in the story of the Hindu God Shiva who turned himself into a frog following a quarrel with his wife Parvati. She cried for days causing disease to spread throughout local villages. When the villages asked for help she sent them to find Shiva and plead with him to marry a young girl. She herself posed as the girl, and when Shiva agreed to marry her they returned to their original god forms and the outbreak was cured.

After the ceremony, the frogs (which apparently didn’t turn into princes) are returned to a muddy pond to find more compatible mates. Read more…

General Frog Business India, wedding