When my cousin did a last minute announcement
about his wedding in Colombo, I was partially panicky and excited. Panicky coz I
realized I would hardly get a day between my Boston and Colombo trip resulting
in my displaying my hyperactive best. My friends and family can vouch that my
hyperactive self is best avoided. But I was also excited as this would be the
first Buddhist wedding I would attend.
Finally after my customary travel related
drama I was in my beloved Colombo. Again travel related drama and me have had a
thirty year steady relationship, so I was sort of prepared for it. Having
landed just one day before the wedding, I didn’t have much to do. But to my
pleasant surprise I discovered that Buddhist weddings are short, simple and
sweet. Thereby, bringing down the usual
pre-wedding chaos by a significant amount.
The sister and I decided to go all Sri Lankan
and wear the traditional Kandyan saree. This
involved a complex saree tying process and about forty pins. Thereby ensure I couldn’t
breathe or move but I did feel rather fancy. So I guess it was worth it.
The main part of the wedding is an entourage
of Kandyan dancers, drummers and conch blowers escorting the bride and groom in
individually. This ceremony is done with the dancers performing the traditional
dance while singing the customary wedding songs. I totally loved this part. Most of the
meaning of the songs were lost on me and my rudimentary Sinhala. But I guestimated
they were welcoming the bride and groom.
This was followed by the main poruwa
ceremony. Which was a relatively short ceremony which included the couple’s
fingers being tied together with string, exchanging of gifts between the
families and all elders blessing the couple.
It also involved a lot of falling at a lot of feet. My heart went out to
the bride who I could see was struggling to fall at people s feet in all her
bridal finery. And in about half an hour ta-da! They were married. If only all weddings were this quick!
This was followed by cake…
And champagne…
And a huge spread of food and more champagne and a lot of dancing. Did I mention I love Sri Lankan
weddings?
