'Magic pythons' married in Cambodia to bring luck

Male pythons Krong Pich, top, and female python Chamroeun, bottom, lie in a cage after their wedding ceremony at Svay Rolum village, Kandal province, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Jan. 3, 2011. Hundreds of Cambodian Monday organized the weird wedding ceremony to a pair of what they believed a magic pythons to ask for prosperity and safety. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) (Heng Sinith - AP)

Cambodian boys look at a head of male python, Krong Pich, in a cage after its wedding ceremony at Svay Rolum village, Kandal province, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Jan. 3, 2011. Hundreds of Cambodian Monday organized the weird wedding ceremony to a pair of what they believed a magic pythons to ask for prosperity and safety. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) (Heng Sinith - AP)

A relative to pythons owner, center, ties the holly red ribbon to a villager after python's wedding ceremony at Svay Rolum village, Kandal province, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Jan. 3, 2011. Hundreds of Cambodian Monday organized the weird wedding ceremony to a pair of what they believed a magic pythons to ask for prosperity and safety. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) (Heng Sinith - AP)

Monday, January 3, 2011
By SOPHENG CHEANG
The Associated Press

SVAY ROLUM, Cambodia -- Hundreds of villagers flocked to a wedding ceremony Monday between a 16-foot (4.8-meter), 200-pound (90-kilogram) female python and her slightly smaller mate - both believed to be magic snakes that bring prosperity and peace.

The two-hour ceremony in Svay Rolum village, 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of the capital Phnom Penh, ended with two Buddhist monks blessing the pair and villagers showering them with flowers as wedding music played.
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