Bride and Groom were Monkeys
3,000 villagers celebrated and feasted on rice, lentils, vegetables, fish and sweets during an elaborate Hindu wedding ceremony.
The bride was dressed in a traditional ceremonial red sari, decked out with flowers and smeared with sandalwood paste.
The groom was taken to the temple by a procession of guests and hundreds of bemused onlookers. The procession was accompanied by loud music, dancing and fireworks.
When the groom reached the temple, hundreds of women welcomed him with typical Hindu synchronised ululations while the priests chanted sacred hymns.
It seemed to be the perfect wedding but anybody passing by would have to take a double take as the bride and groom were monkeys!
Hindu Mythology Sees Monkeys a Idols
Hindu mythology sees monkeys as idols and the owners of both monkeys wanted to hold this ‘marriage’ before they released them from captivity.
Manu was the 3 year old groom and he had treated as a pet since being found in a mango orchard close by the village. Bride Jhumuri was found in a local temple and the two monkeys had been kept in chains as family pets’ right up until the wedding.
"I feel as if my own daughter is getting married. I cannot bear the thought that she would not be with us anymore," Mamina, the woman who has been looking after the female monkey said.
The ceremony took place outside the temple in the Chanteswara village of Orissa state which is the capital of Bhubandswar in India.
The priest who conducted the ceremony said it was a unique experience as he has never ‘married’ two animals. He followed all the rituals that are normally used in human weddings.
The monkeys were even given gifts by their guests, including a golden necklace for the bride donated by a local businessman.
Since their wedding and being released into the wild, the pair of monkeys has been spotted in the trees around the temple where the ceremony took place.
Other Animal Weddings
Pet owners worldwide are now bringing the animal wedding to an all time high to the point that farms and venues are now offering wedding packages for your pets.
They will supply the minister, cake and ceremony from £100 onwards and take care of all paperwork
Sarie Goldstraw who runs a farm that offers the packages, said: "One of the things that I've found is that if people are getting married and they both have a dog then if they are all going to have to live together, which includes the dogs.
"We therefore have a service to celebrate those people's unions and that of the pets also in the home."
Wedding dresses and tuxedos are specially made for animals and you can even have the ceremony videoed. Photograph albums are also available.
In America some people take their pets weddings very serous and hold full blown ceremonies spending thousands of pounds, even sending the ‘bride and groom’ on honeymoon to a 5 star boarding home where they can be booked into the bridal suite and treated like royalty.
Pets are no doubt part of the family and deserve to be treated with kindness and love. If owners wish to give their pets a day they (but not their animals) will remember for a long time; who are we to say if it’s right or wrong.
