Incorporating Bali Wedding Traditions in Your Own Special Day
For them, wedding ceremonies represent procedure based on Balinese Hindu rituals that contain romance and mysticism. Very significantly part of life, weddings are also known as pawiwahan. There are three main reasons why pawiwahan is so important. At first, it is an implementation of ritual (yadya), where the material and the spiritual worlds become adjusted. This ceremony has a form of sacred and noble commitment, because of a testimony before three important forms of witnesses. They are the gods, the abstract living from the underworld, and fellow human beings. Secondly, the bride and the groom must have all the rights and obligations of villagers and must be regarded as full citizens of villages. The last but not the least, future descendants will live the Balinese way of life. They will ensure an opportunity for forebears to reincarnate. Because of these, pawiwahan is very important and presents spiritual turning point. Just one more thing must be completed that is determined by a priest: desa, kala, patra (the right place, the right time and the right circumstances).
When you get married, you have responsibility for both parents and families; also the wife has to follow the caste of her husband. Choosing a day for the wedding is not like choosing any day, it has to be chosen by the person who has the highest caste of Brahmana and who knows about Balinese astronomy. Colorful wedding costumes are one of the characteristics for the wedding, the bride does not wear a white dress, and the groom does not wear a suit. They wear colorful costume according to the caste of the family; usual material for the costume is Songket with bright colors.
In Bali, they have four wedding ceremonies: Mapadik, Ngerorod, Nyentana/Nyeburin and Melegandang. Mapadik ceremony is usually expected by all parents. The groom needs to ask for the bride`s hand. When she agrees, she will go with her future husband to his family`s house. After a couple of days, the wedding will be held at a temple led by a priest, with many people from newlywed’s families, friends, and neighbors. When the wedding ceremony is done, the happy couple goes to the house where the bride lived to say “good bye”.
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Ngerorod or the elopement is the ceremony where the bride is kidnapped from her house. Then the kidnapper takes the stressed bride to a pre-arranged place. Worried bride`s family will organize a fake search party. After searching for the bride far and wide, they won`t be able to find her. In the meantime, the groom and the bride will do rituals to the gods, so they can become husband and wife. After several days, their families will meet to agree on a price for the bride. This presents the cheaper version of a ceremony.
Nyentana/Nyeburin ceremony is determined for a girl with no brothers or if she is the only child. The bride asks for the groom`s hand and takes him to her house. This way of marriage is also more economical than the first one; it is also led by a priest.
Melegandang is ceremony forcibly without love. The marriage has no love from both, the bride and the groom. This is very rare kind of wedding, it can be found in the kingdom era when the kings forcefully married a woman that he likes.
The community in Beli always help each other for everything and because of that, they don`t have wedding organizer.