Two men tie the knot in Indore to please rain god
BHOPAL: Same-sex relationships are illegal in India but that didn’t stop two men in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore from getting married in a traditional Hindu ceremony this week in an effort to please rain god Indra.
Both the men, Sakaram Ahirwar and Rakesh Adjan, have wives and children but went through with the ceremony on Thursday because local customs say the rain god’s attention can be drawn by out-of-the-ordinary occurrences.
Indore has received 20% less rainfall this year.
The men were dressed in traditional wedding attire and the ceremony was preceded by scores of “baraatis” dancing to film songs and marching through the Musakheri neighbourhood.
A Hindu priest officiated the rituals in front of a traditional holy fire, with a large crowd in attendance that included the wives and children. The organiser of the marriage, Ramesh Singh Tomar, said the two grooms worked under him and he hit upon the idea of getting the two men to marry each other.
“All this was done to draw attention of Lord Indra so that he showers his blessings in the form of rain in this area,” Tomar said.
Whether Lord Indra was pleased or not only time will tell, but it did rain briefly while the marriage was going on, which everyone took as a positive sign. After the marriage, there was a feast and the two grooms went back to their respective homes and families.
BOTH MEN HAVE KIDS BUT TIED THE KNOT AS LOCALS SAY RAIN GOD’S ATTENTION CAN BE DRAWN ONLY BY OUTOFTHEORDINARY OCCURRENCE