3-053-596 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

A tiger wedding in Coorg, India, 1873. Engraving of a sketch by Captain Belford Cummins, of the Staff Corps at Mercara. 'A curious ceremony takes place when a tiger has been shot by a Coorg man. Tigers are not numerous in the country, and this ceremony has only occurred twice within the past four years. On the last occasion, the successful huntsman was Mr. Colovanda Carriapah, Head Sheristadar of the Mercara Talook. In this ceremony the man is wedded to the soul of the dead tiger...he is seated under a canopy in full warrior costume. On each side are placed his weapons and the household emblems of plenty, vessels of rice and milk, and burning lamps, analogous to the Masonic corn, wine, and oil. So he sits, receiving the homage and congratulations of his relatives and friends. Each scatters a few grains of rice over his head, gives him a sip of milk from a brass vessel resembling a teapot, and makes an offering in money, varying in value according to the means of the donor. The hero of the day is afterwards carried in triumph round the tiger, which is suspended to a high bamboo frame in the garden. The [British] officers and ladies of the regiment stationed at Mercara, who reside in the late Rajah's palace, were specially invited to attend'. From "Illustrated London News", 1873.