Bhubaneswar, Feb. 28: About 3,000 people this past week converged in Orissa’s Ghanteswara Village, about 200 kilometers from Bhubaneswar, the State capital, to witness a wedding ceremony of two monkeys, said a BBC report.

The "bride" was dressed in a five-metre long sari and decked in flowers for the wedding ceremony. The guests were served a feast of rice, lentils, vegetables, fish and sweets.

The "groom", a three-year-old male monkey named Manu, was taken by procession to a temple in the company of hundreds of bemused onlookers, accompanied by loud music, dancing and fireworks.

Women welcomed the groom with loud, synchronised ululations typical in a Hindu marriage while priests chanted sacred hymns.

Women prepared the female monkey, named Jhumuri, as they would a human bride, draping her in a red sari and smearing her with sandalwood paste.

Manu, was found in a mango orchard in a neighbouring village by a couple who raised it as their pet.

Though monkeys are revered by many Hindu, the couple who "married" off the two monkeys said that they loved them as pets.

Daitari Dash, the priest said that it was a unique experience for him. He was conducting animals’ marriage for the first time. “But I followed all the rituals that I do in human marriages," said Daitari Dash, the priest,” he said.

The monkeys were showered with gifts by those present. They included a gold necklace for the bride, donated by a local businessman.

"I feel as if my own daughter is getting married. I cannot bear the thought that she would not be with us anymore," Mamina, the woman who has been looking after the female monkey Jhumri said.

Mamina has been looking after Jhumuri since her husband found her at a local temple.

The two monkeys, who were kept in chains before the marriage, have now been released by their owners.

A local villager, Mitrabhanu Dutta, said the event was a "nice way to release the monkeys from captivity". (ANI)