BETTIAH, India, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- A wedding between two monkeys in an Indian village was "solemnized" by a Hindu priest and featured more than 200 guests.

Udesh Mahto, owner of the monkeys, organized a procession and a wedding attended by more than 200 villagers in the Bettiah region Nov. 3.


Mahto told the BBC the male monkey, 13-year-old Ramu, is "like my eldest son."

"I wanted to marry him off first," he said.

The owner said Ramu and his bride, Ramdulari, didn't get along at first, but he "decided to marry them off" when they took a liking to one another.

The wedding was "solemnized" by Hindu priest Sunil Shastri.

"Initially I was wary of performing a monkey wedding, but I later relented after seeing that Mr. Mahto was serious about it," he said. "We picked an auspicious day and time for the ceremony."