Siliguri (West Bengal): A banyan tree and a fig tree were united in matrimony by residents of a drought-hit village in West Bengal to propitiate Varuna, the rain god.
At least 1,500 residents of Kushnondi in South Dinajpur district were invited on to witness the marriage of the banyan tree, which was the bride, and the fig tree, the groom.
The trees were dressed in a saree and a dhoti respectively.
Three hundred kg of rice were cooked for the invitees, Block Development Officer Pijus Goswami said on Saturday.
Priest Tarun Pandey, who chanted the mantras over a loudspeaker said, the marriage was performed according to strict Hindu rituals.
The 50-member groom's party was accorded a special reception.
The CPI-M panchayat chief in nearby Deul village, who supervised the marriage, said the villagers, mostly peasants, were entirely dependent on rain for their crops.
However, the ceremony seemed to have had little impact on the rain God, as the parched area was yet to receive any showers following the wedding.
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