Jump to content

To Each His Own.....


SR540Beaver

Recommended Posts

The more I learn about other people's religions, the more comfortable I am with mine.

 

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/06/02/060602155817.4608d3f6.html

 

Charmed woman marries cobra in India

 

Jun 02 1:43 PM US/Eastern

 

A woman who fell in love with a snake has reportedly married the reptile at a traditional Hindu wedding celebrated by 2,000 guests in India's Orissa state.

 

Bimbala Das wore a silk saree for the ceremony Wednesday at Atala village near the Orissa state capital Bhubaneswar.

 

Priests chanted mantras to seal the union, but the snake failed to come out of a nearby ant hill where it lives, the Press Trust of India (PTI) said.

 

A brass replica snake stood in for the hesitant groom.

 

"Though snakes cannot speak nor understand, we communicate in a peculiar way," Das, 30, told the agency.

 

"Whenever I put milk near the ant hill where the cobra lives, it always comes out to drink.

 

"I always get to see it every time I go near the ant hill. It has never harmed me," she added.

 

Villagers welcomed the wedding in the belief it would bring good fortune and laid on a feast for the big day.

 

Snakes and particularly the King Cobra are venerated in India as religious symbols worn by Lord Shiva, the god of destruction.

 

Das, from a lower caste, converted to the animal-loving vegetarian Vaishnav sect whose local elders gave her permission to marry the cobra, the world's largest venomous snake that can grow up to five metres.

 

"I am happy," said her mother Dyuti Bhoi, who has two other daughters and two sons to marry off.

 

"Bimbala was ill," Bhoi told local OTV channel. "We had no money to treat her. Then she started offering milk to the snake ... she was cured. That made her fall in love."

 

Das has moved into a hut built close to the ant hill since the wedding.

 

Earlier this year, a tribal girl was married off to a dog on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SR540Beaver

I'm not trying to hijack the thread but...

My little sister, seven years younger.When she finished university thought she needed to "Find herself"? Whatever that might mean.

When I finished college Dad paid my airfare to come to the USA as part of the International Camp Counselor program. I didn't really find myself, I found Her Who Must Be Obeyed!!

Pat (My sister) decided that she would go and work on a development project in India.

She said it was very hot and found that the best thing to wear was mens cotton PJ's.

Her main mode of transportation was a very ancient early 1940's mans bicycle.

At the time she left England Punk Rock was big.

Her hair was at least four different colors.

She was only the second white person the villager's had ever seen.

I can just imagine what they were thinking:

"Hey if this is civilization? We really don't need it!!"

Right now she is in Hong Kong. A very well respected and very well dressed Barrister.

Eamonn.

I got Her Who Must Be Obeyed.

She might have ended up with him that hisses or barks.

I'd never have got to be Uncle Eamonn.(This message has been edited by Eamonn)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

* Read an article about the snake handlers up in the Appalachians. Their faith leads them to "get up close and personal" with timber rattlers and copperheads. This comes from Biblical injunctions Mark 16:18 among others. That's the beauty of faith, I guess, one can pick and choose what to use as an indication of your Loyalty to God (?).

* I met many a good Scout in my time as a Jamboree Chaplain, but none with THAT sort of faith.

 

YiS

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...