Minor Boys 'Married' To Each Other In Karnataka Village To ‘Appease The Rain Gods’: Locals

Two separate marriages took place on a full moon day at Hirekattigehalli in Chintamani taluk and Mogalakuppe village in Chikkaballapur taluk.

After the event, the boys went back to their regular lives.

Amid the fear of drought in Karnataka, the people of the state have started to perform various special poojas invoking rain gods to give a good shower for the state. As part of the pooja, two villages in Karnataka have performed 'marriages' between two boys to get rains. The marriages took place on a full moon day at Hirekattigehalli in Chintamani taluk and Mogalakuppe village in Chikkaballapur taluk.

According to IANS, the ritual of marrying boys is common in Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapur and Kolar districts.

In Hirekattigehalli, the marriage of young boys was witnessed by the entire village. Two boys studying Class 5 were picked for the marriage and they were made to dress as the bride and the groom.

All ceremonies were carried out, including the tying of Mangalasutra. The folks participated in the marriage ceremony by doing aarti and asking the rain gods to bless them. They also received financial gifts.

The duo received Rs 1,600 as gifts and they shared the amount at the end of the day.

A villager Manjunath told TOI that due to the difficult time, they all shared a belief that they would get heavy showers if 'marriage' was performed to boys.

"This was done as a part of a prayer ritual to appease the rain gods and bring rain to the region by the villagers. A feast was also arranged after the marriage," they said, as per ANI.

The event was followed by the guys going back to their regular lives. On Thursday and Wednesday, there were reports of the events.

On Wednesday night, two other minor boys were also made to tie the mangalsutra in Chikkaballapura taluk, said a report on Times of India.

Unrelatedly, Bengaluru city and the surrounding areas received showers in the past three days.

The farmers, who were fearful that their entire harvest would be lost since the monsoon failed, are now optimistic that they will at least receive ragi, a staple crop.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Revenue Department is geared to finalise a list of taluks to be declared drought-hit by September 4. 

After the list is prepared, the state is expected to send a drought memorandum to the Centre with details of the losses incurred by the farmers.