Varanasi, June 23: As the country is facing scorching heat, people are resorting to various methods to impress god of rain to get respite from rising temperatures. As part of one such ritual, a group of people organised a wedding of two plastic frogs in Varanasi. Organisers of this wedding believed that by doing this, the city would better monsoon this year. They said, “we want rainfall in the city. It's an old belief that wedding of frogs makes Indra Dev (God of rain in Hindu mythology) happy. So we organised this wedding, requesting Indra Dev for the monsoon.”

The ritual is also followed in various parts of the country. Madhya Pradesh minister of state for woman and child development Lalita Yadav allegedly married off two frogs at a temple in Chhattarpur on Friday. According to a report published in Hindustan Times, 'Ashad Utsav' was organised by the minister along with other local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders. A priest of the temple performed the marriage of frogs in presence of Yadav.

Temple priest Acharya Brijnandan told Hindustan Times, “The frogs’ marriage and feast is a very old tradition to please the god.” However, the Congress criticised Yadav’s act. The opposition party slammed the minister for promoting superstitions and not providing drinking water in her constituency. However, the minister termed it as a logical tradition necessary for balancing the environment.

The northern and central parts of the country are witnessing high temperatures and the hot wind blowing across the regions is making life tough.  Last year, the country witnessed 841.3 mm cumulative rainfall for the overall season from June 1 till September 30 against the normal rains of 887.5 mm. This year, monsoon has arrived in southern states and the Konkan region of the country.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 24, 2018 12:20 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).