Special report from International Online: According to the UK's "Daily Telegraph" January 3 report, a unique wedding ceremony was held in a village in Kandal Province, Cambodia. The main characters of the wedding were two pythons, attracting more than 1,000 people to come and watch. Among the two giant pythons, the "bride-to-be," the female python named "Roung Srey" measured 5.3 meters long and weighed over 90 kilograms. In comparison, the "groom-to-be," the male python named Klonepich, was much smaller in size. During the two-hour wedding ceremony, two Buddhist monks blessed the python couple, while the villagers threw flower petals at them to the sound of the wedding march.
The owner of the female python "Roung Srey" said, "We held this wedding for the pythons in order to drive away misfortune and bring good luck and happiness to the village." Diviners believe that pythons are magical snakes that can bring prosperity and peace to the village. Another reason why the villagers held the wedding for these two pythons is because a boy may have been "bewitched by demons."
Most Cambodians are Buddhists who believe in animism. They think spirits can exist in various forms, including living and non-living objects. (Yang Liu)