In what has been eulogized as a “very beautiful tradition”, the Mayor of a small village in Mexico has wedded an alligator.
A reptile dressed up in a wedding dress was married off to Victor Hugo Sosa, Mayor of San Pedro Huamelula in Oaxaca, in a colourful ceremony last Thursday, June 30.
The jaw of the reptile was tied together to avoid any calamities during the wedding.
After their nuptials, Sosa sealed their union with a kiss on the reptile’s face.
The alligator was then paraded through the village, carried by locals as men lined the streets to fan the newly-wed with their hats.
It is thought that the bizarre marriage dates back centuries and is a tradition of Oaxaca state’s Chontal and Huave indigenous communities.
The ceremony is linked to nature and good harvests.
“We ask nature for enough rain, for enough food, that we have fish in the river,” said Sosa.
The seven-year-old reptile is believed to be a deity representing mother Earth. Her marriage to a local leader is meant to symbolise the unity between humans and the divine.
She was dubbed “little princess” by wedding guests.
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