Croak-croak: Frogs married off, to woo rain Gods in Chhattisgarh

Time of India

2 days ago

RAIPUR: An unusual wedding took place in remote village of Surajpur district- not between humans, but two frogs. The ceremony, steeped in centuries-old belief of tribal community, was performed to appease the rain God as monsoon clouds remained elusive over the region.
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The male and female frogs were adorned in miniature bridal attire, their union solemnised with rituals identical to a human marriage, complete with dance, a wedding procession, music, and the beating of traditional drums.
Villagers from Dhondha and neighbouring hamlets thronged the venue, dancing and singing in celebration with women performing main rituals and singing folk songs. Tribal women can be seen in videos, decked up for wedding rituals and holding frogs in covered copper vessels, singing and dancing.
Among the Gond and Oraon tribal communities of Chhattisgarh, such ceremonies are rooted in the belief that marrying frogs can invoke the God of rain, to bless their parched fields.
'When the skies remain dry, we turn to our deities in the ways our ancestors taught us,' said Ramesh Kerketta, a village elder. 'The frog wedding is symbolic, it's nature calling to nature to save us from drought and bring rain.'
Dozens of them participated, treating the event with both religious reverence and festive enthusiasm.
The croak couple, now bound in a sacred 'pact of rain,' was later released into a nearby pond, a gesture symbolising the union's connection with water.
Such rain-invoking rituals are still practiced across rural Chhattisgarh, reflecting a deep intertwining of tribal cosmology, agrarian life, and seasonal rhythms.
While meteorologists forecast scattered showers later this week, villagers say the frog wedding has already lifted spirits, and they're hopeful the clouds will now oblige.
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Surajpur district has received normal rain this monsoon till now, with 847.4 mm rainfall from June till date, weather department officials stated in a report. Yet there are many patches in such regions that remain parched, just like Dhondha.
Speaking to TOI on such tradition, a prominent tribal leader and former Union minister Arvind Netam said, 'Tribal communities have a rain God of their own, whom they call upon through weddings of frogs.
It happens in almost all tribal-dominated villages and is part of several traditions directly related to nature.'
He said that the rituals are part of life now and the communities continue with a belief that their offerings, prayers were accepted. 'Be it trees, forests, woods, land, river, everything is worshipped by tribals without any interference of any other religion.'