The mayor of a small town in Mexico married an alligator in a colorful ceremony, in keeping with an ancient ritual pleading for nature’s bounty. The ceremony on Thursday saw traditional music playing out as revellers danced and the leader from an indigenous community sealed the marriage with a kiss, news agency Reuters reported.
During the ceremony, San Pedro Huamelula Mayor Victor Hugo Sosa bent down twice to plant his lips on his alligator bride’s snout, tied shut apparently to avoid any unwanted biting, the report said. The alligator was all dressed up in wedding finery, visuals suggest.
According to the Reuters report, the marriage ritual likely dates back to pre-Hispanic times among the Chontal and Huave indigenous communities from Oaxaca state.
“We ask nature for enough rain, for enough food, that we have fish in the river,” Sosa was quoted as saying.
Now mixed with Catholic spirituality, the age-old ritual involves dressing the alligator in a white wedding dress and other colorful garments.
San Pedro Huamelula is a small fishing village on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca in Mexico’s south.
Oaxaca is considered to be very rich in indigenous culture, and inhabited by groups that have maintained their languages and traditions.
The Wedding
The reptile bride, aged seven and referred to as a little princess, is believed to be a deity who represents Mother Earth. If she marries the local leader, it symbolises the joining of humans with the divine, the report said.
The report said locals carried the alligator bride in their arms through the streets of the village, with men fanning it with their hats, amid blaring of trumpets and beating of drums.
“It gives me so much happiness and makes me proud of my roots,” Elia Edith Aguilar, the godmother who organised the wedding, was quoted as saying.