Women welcomed the groom with loud, synchronised ululations typical in a Hindu marriage while priests chanted sacred hymns.
"It was a unique experience for me. It was the first time I conducted a marriage between two animals. But I followed all the rituals that I do in human marriages," said Daitari Dash, the priest.
Women prepared the female monkey, named Jhumuri, as they would a human bride, draping her in a red sari and smearing her with sandalwood paste.
The monkeys were showered with gifts by those present. They included a gold necklace for the bride, donated by a local businessman.
"I feel as if my own daughter is getting married. I cannot bear the thought that she would not be with us anymore," Mamina, the woman who has been looking after the female monkey said.
Mamina has been looking after Jhumuri since her husband found her at a local temple.
The male monkey, Manu, was found in a mango orchard in a neighbouring village by a couple who raised it as their pet.
Researchers say that few primates mate in a face-to-face position, known technically as ventro-ventral copulation; most primate species copulate in what's known as the dorso-ventral position, with both animals facing in the same direction. Besides humans, only bonobos have been known to frequently employ ventro-ventral mating positions. On a few occasions, mountain gorillas have been observed in ventro-ventral positions, but never photographed. Western gorillas in captivity have been known to mate face-to-face, but not in the wild, which makes this observation a noteworthy first.
