A small-town Mexican mayor married his alligator bride in a colorful ceremony as he sealed the nuptials with a kiss.
San Pedro Huamelula Mayor Victor Hugo Sosa bend down to plant his lips on the small alligator’s snout, which had been tied shut presumably to avoid unwanted biting. This is part of marriage ritual that dates back centuries to pre-Hispanic times among Oaxaca state’s Chontal and Huave indigenous communities.
“We ask nature for enough rain, for enough food, that we have fish in the river,” said Sosa.
The age-old ritual involves dressing the alligator or caiman in a white wedding dress besides other colorful garments and the seven-year-old reptile, referred to as a little princess, is believed to be a deity representing mother earth, and her marriage to the local leader symbolizes the joining of humans with the divine.
