Traditional Wedding in Sri Lanka

Nekatha

• Buddhist Weddings gives prominence to ‘Nekath’, the auspicious times.

• The ‘Nekatha' is derived from the horoscopes of the bride and groom that is created based on their dates and times of birth.

Poruwa Ceremony

• The ceremony takes place on a "Poruwa", a beautifully decorated, traditional wooden platform.

• The ceremony involves a series of rituals performed by the bride and groom, and their families.

• The bride's nephew washes the groom's feet symbolizing that the brides family welcomes the groom to their fold.

• The groom drops a ring in to the bowl containing water, symbolizing gratitude towards that welcome.

• The groom and his family will assemble on the left of the Poruwa,

• while the bride and her family assemble on the right.

• The couple will then enter the Poruwa leading with the right foot accompanied by their respective fathers.

• The groom and bride will then greet each other with palms held together in the traditional manner.

• The Asthaka (master of ceremonies) presents a hand of betel leaves to the couple, which they accept and hand back to him to be placed at an elevated position on the Poruwa.

• The bride's father takes the brides hand and places it on the right hand of the groom as a symbolic gesture of handing over the bride to the groom.

• The groom's best man, hands a tray to the groom with fourteen sheaves of betel leaves each with a coin in the middle .

• The groom holds the tray while the bride takes one sheaf at a time and drops it on the Poruwa. The groom repeats this process. This is a custom carried out to remember seven generations of relatives on each side.

• The best man then hands a necklace to the groom who in turn places it around the bride's neck and locks it very carefully.

• The groom and bride exchanges wedding rings handed to them by the best man and the bride's brother. The rings are placed on the fourth finger of the left hand.

• An uncle of the bride then enters the Poruwa and ties the small fingers of bride and groom with a gold thread and then pours water over the fingers.

• The uncle then turns the couple clockwise, three times, on the Poruwa.

• Next the groom presents to his bride a sari, which she will then present to her mother.– This is an expression of the

groom's gratitude to his mother-in-law for bringing up her daughter (The Bride)

• Next the groom's mother will present the going away outfit. Traditionally the going away outfit is a sari.

• The groom hands the dress over to the bride who in turn will hand it over to her sister.

• The brides sister will then present a plate of milk rice and kavum (traditional sweets), cooked with special ingredients befitting a marriage ceremony, to the groom who feeds a piece of each to the bride.

• The bride will then feed a piece of each to the groom in return. This is a symbolic pledge to take care of each other for life.

• The newly weds will present a sheaf of betel to both parents. The groom and bride will worship their parents with bended knees.

• The newly weds will present a gift to the brides uncle who tied the thread.

• Girls dressed in "half saris" sing "Jayamangala Gatha" these are wedding songs invoking blessings from Buddhist Scriptures.

• The newly married couple steps down from the Poruwa, the groom's family member breaks a fresh coconut into two.After that the wedding ceremony starts.

Prepared by :Grade 12 B students