Frog Marriage

19 Aug 2010 - The weather has been exceptional this year, with heavy rains in Pakistan and China, and a dry spell in Russia and Bangladesh. Farmers in a district of northern Bangladesh are marrying off frogs in a desperate bid to bring on monsoon rains and protect their crops, local officials said. Bangladesh suffered its driest July month in decades, prompting farmers to turn to the centuries-old rain-making ritual of celebrating frog marriages. At a frog wedding in Ranchandrapur village, 300 villagers dressed in their best clothes attended the festivities, said Tajul Islam, who was at the wedding. "the frog bride and groom are highly decorated with a red streak of color on their foreheads and carried in a special basked to a banana leaf stage.".