Dressed in colorful costumes and jewelry, Sri Lankan people love to attend grand wedding celebrations. This special ceremony includes a series of traditional wedding rituals passed through the generations. In Sri Lanka, there are several types of weddings for Buddhists, Catholics, Hindus, Muslims, and other ethnic communities. Even for Sinhalese Buddhists, there are different types of wedding ceremonies. Thus, each wedding has its own unique style, and attending this joyful function gives an unforgettable experience to the guests.
Sri Lankan couples love to celebrate their weddings with elegant costumes that are authentic to the island. The people who live in different regions of the island have different wedding costumes. As an example, the up-country and low-country wedding costumes are completely different. Moreover, some Sinhalese people like to celebrate their weddings in western style costumes. Although the wedding costumes are different, the traditional rituals performed at the function are quite similar throughout the island.
In this post, we are going to introduce you to the traditional wedding customs in Sri Lanka. We are showing you some gorgeous snaps of the up-country wedding and hope you’ll enjoy the beauty of this grand celebration.
Costume of the bride
Sri Lankan brides wear an alluring, traditional attire that is unique to Sri Lanka. The up-country brides wear a Kandyan outfit called as Osari. This outfit is one of the most gorgeous wedding costumes in the world. Osari is a distinctive Kandyan style saree, dressed in a unique way authentic to the up-country people. This costume represents the dress worn by Sri Lankan queens in the last Kandyan dynasty.
The bridal Osari is quite elegant and has a dazzling appearance. It usually boasts of gold and silver threadwork. This wedding Osari is a heavily embroidered silk saree adorned with beads, pearls, stones, and sequins. Thus, the bridal saree is quite heavy with these accessories. The saree blouse features long sleeves that are in line with royal customs. With this adorable attire and beautiful flower bouquet, the Kandyan bride catches all the attention of the guests.
Hairstyle of the bride
The bride’s hairstyle is a low bun and it decorates with flowers and ornaments. Mainly, the bride’s head is decorated with a head ornament, calls “Nalal patiya”. This is three long chains attached to a middle pendant. The middle pendant keeps at the center of her forehead. The bride’s mother will place this ornament and pin it to her hair at a given auspicious time.
This head ornament is the most important piece in Kandyan jewelry. Only the Sri Lankan royals used this jewelry on special occasions. Thus, it uses to distinguish the bride from others. Moreover, two circular-shaped pendants that represent the sun and the moon are also pinned to her hair on either side of the middle chain.
Jewelry of the bride
The most attractive element of a Kandyan bride is her Jewelry. The bride is adorned from head to toe with dazzling jewelry. The customary seven-piece Kandyan necklace is an important item of the wedding costume. It is believed that the reason to wear so many necklaces is to ward off the evil eyes from the bride.
The earrings worn by the Kandyan bride are long-hanging earrings. It has chains of pearls suspending from an upturned cup-shaped base. Moreover, the Kandyan bride wears two types of bracelets made up of a string of beads with intricately detailed carvings and gemstones.
Other than the bracelets, the bride wears a beautiful hand ornament. It has a central pendant and 5 chains attached to it. Each of these chains attaches to a ring that goes on the fingers of the right hand of the bride. The last piece of jewelry of a Kandyan bride calls as “Hawadiya”. This is a chain-like ornament that is draped around the waist on one side.
Costume of groom
The bridegroom is wearing a traditional outfit called as Nilame outfit. Probably, the Sri Lankan groom’s wedding outfit is the most unique and beautiful in the whole world. This costume call as “Mul Aduma” in Sinhalese. This was the costume created for Sri Lankan royalty, especially for the kings in the Kandyan dynasty.
The costume consists of several items. He has a plush velvet hat and jacket that many Lankans fancy wearing in these times. From head to toe, the groom’s outfit is heavily embroidered with silver and gold thread. The jacket and shoes match the hat. Wearing all these items, the groom is looking like a majestic king with this solemn attire.
Bridesmaids
The bridesmaids wear the same outfit as the bride, but not as grand as the bride. Their Kandyan Osari matches the color of the bridal costume. The flower girl also has the same color frock and looks quite adorable in her beautiful dress.
Groomsmen
The groomsmen also wear similar outfits as the bridegroom, Usually, there are 2-5 bridesmaids and groomsmen at a wedding. The page boys also wear the Nilame costume in line with the groom’s attire.
Wedding rituals
Every Sinhalese-Buddhist wedding ceremony is rich in customs and traditions. These rituals are passed down from generation to generation. These rituals consider as sacred to Buddhism and each one is conducted due to a specific belief. The most important custom of the wedding is the ‘Poruwa ceremony’.
Poruwa ceremony
Poruwa is a beautifully decorated, traditional wooden platform and it uses as the wedding stage. All the wedding rituals perform on this elegantly decorated stage. The bride, groom, and their families and relatives assemble around the Poruwa. Both the up-country and low-country weddings include this Poruwa ceremony as the major event of the wedding celebration.
Poruwa has four pillars and an udu wiyana (cloth roof). Beautiful fresh flowers and traditional motifs are used to decorate the stage. Four punkalas (pots of prosperity) filled with coconut flowers are placed at the corners of the Poruwa signifying prosperity. Betel leaves are placed at the four corners together with clay lamps and a few coin offerings. The clay lamps are lit to seek the blessings of the deities.
Stepping on Poruwa
Before the rituals start, the bride’s family gathers at the left, and the groom’s family gathers on the right side of the Poruwa. First, the bride and groom enter from each side to the Poruwa leading with the right foot first. The father or the uncle of the bride and groom will assist them to step onto the Poruwa. They greet each other with palms held together in the traditional manner.
Offering betel leaves
The couple is offered seven betel leaves with a coin placed in each as an offering to the gods. Then groom holds the tray while the bride takes one leaf with a coin at a time and drops it on the Poruwa seven times. This traditional custom is used to honor Goddess Pattini and it means the bond of unity and love will last for seven generations.
Tying the fingers
Tying the fingers of the bride and groom is one of the most important rituals of Sri Lankan marriages. It is the symbol of the union of marriage. An experienced elderly person recites Ashtaka to bless the couple with a prosperous wedded life. While the Ashtaka is being chanted, the maternal uncle ties the small fingers of the right hand of the bride and groom with a blessed thread (pirith nool) or gold thread and pours water from an ornate jug.
The tightening of the thread when water is pouring signifies the strengthening of the bond between the couple. This ritual indicates that this tie should remain forever, and the couple should not separate or divorce in the future. The act of tying in front of the crowd gives social acceptance to the bride and the groom since all the participants know that they are legally married. This is a prominent ritual in any Sinhalese-Buddhist wedding.
Exchanging rings
As same as western weddings, exchanging rings is among the most important wedding customs in Sri Lanka. First, the groom places the golden ring in the bride’s hand and then the bride places the ring in the groom’s hand. After that, the groom places a golden necklace around his bride’s neck.
Then, the groom gifts a saree and jacket, usually made of red material to his bride. This red sari is the costume of the bride’s homecoming ceremony which is hosted by the groom’s family a few days later. This ritual symbolizes a promise to protect and care for her.
After the couple exchange the rings, jewelry, and clothes, they will feed each other with milk rice. The bride’s mother presents a plate of milk rice specially cooked for the occasion. The bride feeds a piece to the groom and then the groom feeds the bride as a symbolic pledge to take care of each other for life.
Buddhist chanting
One of the traditional wedding customs in Sri Lanka is getting blessings according to Buddhism for a successful life. Usually, teenage girls perform this traditional Buddhist chant call as Jayamangala Gatha to bless the marriage. These chanting are important traditional rituals to invoke the blessings of Lord Buddha.
Gifting Mother-in-Law
The groom then gifts the mother of the bride with 40 yards of white cloth which has many meanings. Mostly, this ritual is a way of paying gratitude to his mother-in-law for nurturing the bride till now.
End of Poruwa ceremony
Upon completion of all the traditional rituals on the Poruwa, the fathers lead the newlywed couple to step down from Poruwa. Then groom’s family member breaks a fresh coconut to drive away any evil influences. Sri Lankans believe that if the coconut breaks exactly into two halves, the future of the couple is better. It indicates their marriage will be blessed with many children.
Lighting the oil lamp
Lighting the oil lamp is among the most important wedding customs in Sri Lanka. To bless the newly wedded life, the couple will light a traditional oil lamp, symbolizing good luck and the start of a bright new future together.
Wedding party
After all these traditional customs, the festivities begin with food and drinks. This is the most enjoyable part of the Sri Lankan wedding which involves a scrumptious meal, sweets, and desserts. There will be lots of food in the buffet lunch. You’ll find that Sri Lankan buffets are extremely colorful and elegant with a range of savory rice dishes, yummy vegan, meat, and fish dishes.
Homecoming ceremony
This is the final event of a Sri Lankan wedding and it takes place a few days after the main ceremony. Thus, the homecoming of the bride marks the end of a flamboyant wedding celebration. The bride makes her entry into the groom’s house wearing the red saree gifted to her during the Poruwa ceremony.
To sum up, these are the traditional wedding customs in Sri Lanka. Definitely, Sri Lankan wedding is the epitome of beautiful Sinhalese culture and heritage. Every ritual signifies the beginning of a new stage in life. Without a doubt, the typical Kandyan wedding gives a treat to the eyes of the guests. If you like to enjoy this kind of grand wedding celebration, you may select Sri Lanka as your dream wedding destination. Welcome to Sri Lanka and have a wonderful wedding ceremony!
Text by Magnificent Sri Lanka. Images from Janith Anuradha Photography in Pexels and Dreamstime. All the copyrights are reserved by the original authors.
