Ganga and Jamuna Mondal (born Ayara and Jayara Ratun, 1969 or 1970), known professionally as The Spider Girls and The Spider Sisters, are

conjoined twins Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are twins joined ''in utero''. A very rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence ...

from a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

family in

Basirhat Basirhat is a city of West Bengal, India. It is located on the banks of the Ichamati (Ichhamati) River. Geography Location Basirhat is located at . Area overview The area shown in the map is a part of the Ichhamati-Raimangal Plain, located ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

, India.

Employment

They work at the travelling "Dreamland Circus" in India. Their act consists of them sitting on a charpoy in a tent, with paying spectators allowed entry to view and converse with them. In 2009, they were reported to have earned

GBP Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...

26 for five hours a night. They are married to a single man named Gadadhar, a carnival worker.

Anatomy

The twins are joined at the abdomen and pelvis, have four arms, and three legs, two of which are fused into a single, nine-toed limb, which remains concealed behind their body. They share a stomach, but have two hearts, two kidneys, one liver, and one reproductive tract. The twins have been examined by doctors to determine whether or not they can be separated. However, they have no plans to do so because they feel it would be against God's will, carry too great a medical risk, and would rob them of their employment. They have said, "We are happy as we are. The family will starve if we are separated."

Personal life

The twins were born Ayara and Jayara Ratun, but their parents changed their names at the age of five to honour the

Ganga The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

and Jamuna rivers. Although they both have separate ration cards, they share the same plate at meals. They each vote separately in elections, but when they attempted to open a joint bank account, they were refused. In 1993, they gave birth to a daughter by

Caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or mo ...

, but she died hours after being born.

In the media

*"Human Spider Sisters", ''

My Shocking Story ''My Shocking Story'' is a documentary television series originally broadcast on Discovery Channel UK. It was broadcast by The Learning Channel in the United States, Discovery Channel Australia and Seven Network in Australia and Discovery Chan ...

'', a documentary series *"

An Idiot Abroad ''An Idiot Abroad'' is a British travel documentary comedy television series broadcast on Sky One, as well as a series of companion books published by Canongate Books, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and starring Karl Pilkington. T ...

": Season 3, Episodes 2 & 3

References

{{reflist Living people Conjoined twins Indian twins Year of birth uncertain Bengali people People from West Bengal 1969 births