In the Mexican town of San Pedro Vamura, mayor Victor Hugo Sousa marries a crocodile as a bride in an ancient ceremony.
What's going on here?
San Pedro Huamelula is located in Oaxaca, in southern Mexico. Oaxaca is arguably the richest place in Mexico's indigenous culture, where most people are fans of traditional culture.
San Pedro Vamura is a small fishing village on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca. Naturally, it is also one of the practitioners of traditional customs.
While it's incredible to marry a crocodile, it's not at all hard to understand when it comes to Oaxaca. Oaxaca, as a place of indigenous culture and its richness, has long been a practice.
First, let's look at what the process of this custom is.
Very early on, the locals would choose a small female crocodile. Then it is carefully fed while it is still a baby crocodile.
In this impoverished fishing village, crocodiles are treated so highly that locals feed them the best food they can provide.
As the crocodile grows bigger, it eats more. What started as a meal every eight days is now two meals a week.
It was so carefully fed that it wasn't until the baby crocodile was seven years old that the wedding could be held.
There is also an indispensable part before the wedding, that is, to choose a godmother for the crocodile. All the godmother needed to do was prepare a dress for the crocodile for the wedding.
Godmother is not an ordinary position, and only a few people are eligible to serve as godmothers in the eyes of the locals.
And Elia Edith Aguilar is honored to have this opportunity herself.
"It gives me a lot of joy and makes me proud of myself."
On the wedding day, the bride in the wedding dress is held by two people. Walk to the wedding scene amid the cheers and drums around you.
At this time, the crocodile is wearing a pink dress and a tonal flower on its neck. Of course, its mouth had been tied up to prevent it from bursting into bites.
After coming to the wedding site, the crocodile will change into another wedding dress. The mayor will take the bride to the wedding scene, and then everyone present will begin to dance around the protagonist against the background of traditional music.
Amid the cheers of the crowd, the mayor kissed the crocodile. The crowd erupted in cheers.
Ceremonial marriages like these date back centuries to the pre-Hispanic era of the Chontal and Huave indigenous communities of Oaxaca.
Married to crocodiles because they believed that crocodiles represented nature and divinity. Combining with a being that symbolizes the gods is similar to praying for the grace of nature, praying that nature will bless them with food and clothing.
Mayor Sosa said: "We pray to nature for enough rain, enough food, so that we can have fish in the river. ”
This ritual reflects not only the integration that prevails in indigenous communities and Mexican culture, but also the interweaving of pre-Hispanic traditions with Catholic customs.
It is also the combination of different cultures that has created such a unique traditional custom.