VIDEO: Mexican mayor marries alligator to bring fortune to his community

The mayor of a small Mexican town married an alligator last Thursday in a centuries-old ceremony in hopes of bringing abundance to his community.

The mayor of San Pedro Huamelula, Víctor Hugo Sosa, kissed the reptile on several occasions during the unusual ceremony, where attendees played trumpets and drums to celebrate the union.

The 7-year-old alligator, named Princess, is seen as a deity representing nature, and her marriage to a leader symbolizes humans' connection to the divine, according to New York Post.

Before the ceremony, the reptilian "bride," dressed in white, paraded through the streets of the community to be praised by the men.

El alcalde de México se casa con un cocodrilo vestido de novia pic.twitter.com/gWcnMyW1rL

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The ceremony symbolizes the union of the two indigenous groups, the Chontales and the Huaves (also known as Mareños). During pre-Hispanic times, when the Huaves arrived at the land where the Chontales lived on the Pacific coast, the clans lived in conflict,

According to legend, the conflict ended when the son of the king of the Chontal and the daughter of the king of the Hual fell in love and married. 

"We ask nature for enough rain, enough food, that we have fish in the river," Sosa exclaimed at the ceremony.

Many groups in southern Mexico have clung to their indigenous culture.

Elia Edith Aguilar, the godmother who organized the event, claimed that the ceremony gives her "a lot of happiness," despite worrying about what the alligator would wear. 

"I take pride in my roots," he said, adding that "it's a very beautiful tradition."