Marriage Ceremony or Pawiwahan is a ceremony that occurs at any time when a person or family marries a child or family, this wedding ceremony in Bali is divided into several phases, starting with informal family gatherings until a formal meeting called Mejantos which consists of their respective customs. Each custom or family in Bali is often called (Kala Patra Village) so that the customs in each region or region are different, after the wedding ceremony, the bride's family has agreed. The date of requesting the woman's family and an initiation ceremony is agreed upon when the bride is asked to have a goodbye ceremony at the Merajan woman, continue return to the groom's house and before entering the groom's house a Biyekale ceremony: the meaning of this ceremony is cleansing and purifying oneself from bad influences and dirty thoughts. Mekala Kalaan: to avoid the bad influence of Kala.
Mark Mat: symbolizes the girl who is about to get married Severine the Yarn
Finally, the procession of deciding this thread will be the closing of the Mekala-Kalaan ceremony. In this ritual, the bride and groom will instill turmeric, taro, and carriage right behind the Merajan or Sanggah (family prayer place), which aims to perpetuate the family's descendants. After that, the two of them decided the thread on the Dadap branch (Papegatan) as an analogy that the two couples were ready to leave their teenage years.
7. Mewidhi Widana Ceremony (Natab Banten Beduur)
After carrying out the Mekala-Kalaan ceremony, the Balinese traditional wedding ritual was continued with the Mewidhi Widana ceremony which was held at the family temple of the groom's party, led by the Sanggah holder and escorted by the Pinisepuh. In this procession filled with a solemn atmosphere, the bride and groom offer prayers for the presence of a new family to their ancestors to continue their descendants.
8. Table Ceremony (Ma Pejati)
At this stage, both partners have officially become husband and wife. Following Balinese customs, the wife will become part of the husband's extended family. Therefore, a few days after the wedding, the two families determine the day on which the entire family visits the residence of the bride's parents to hold the Mejauman ceremony procession.
This event aims to say goodbye to the bride's extended family, especially to the ancestors of the bride. The arrival of the groom's family is accompanied by traditional Balinese cakes such as pillow cake, alem, cuscus, Apem, Cerorot, Nagasari, Kekupa, rice, coffee, tea, sugar, betel nut, as well as fruits and Balinese side dishes.
The Balinese traditional wedding procession is arguably not as long as other traditional weddings which usually take days to weeks before the wedding day. However, the meaning in each procession is no less meaningful and profound.
That is the beauty that can be obtained from carrying out traditional weddings, prayers and hopes, and togetherness with family during the wedding procession. In contrast to today's modern weddings, which are shorter.
Balinese Traditional Wedding Procession
1. Determining a Good Day Hari
The Balinese traditional wedding procession begins with determining the auspicious day after the groom proposes to the bride, which in Balinese is called Mepadik or Ngidih. Balinese people still strongly believe in a good day to hold a wedding. On the good day that has been chosen, the prospective bride will be picked up and then taken to the prospective groom's house.
2. Ngekeb Upacara CeremonyIf you have often heard of the Siraman procession at Javanese traditional weddings, the Ngekeb Ceremony is a procession similar to Balinese custom. However, there is a difference between these two traditional processions, if in Balinese tradition, the bride will first be scrubbed with a concoction made of peacock leaves, turmeric, yang flowers finely ground rice, and water for shampooing.
During the Ngekeb ritual, the bride-to-be is not allowed to leave her room from the afternoon until the groom's family group picks her up the next day. In addition to outward preparation, the bride and groom also multiply prayers to Sang Hyang Widhi to be bestowed with His happiness and grace.
3. Picking up the Prospective Bride
If most traditional weddings do most of the procession at the residence of the prospective bride, it is different from Balinese custom. Traditional Balinese weddings have a procession to pick up the prospective bride to carry out a series of processions at the prospective groom's house.
Before leaving the house, the bride-to-be is wrapped in a thin yellow cloth from head to toe. This yellow cloth symbolizes that the prospective bride buried her life as a single woman and entered a new life of marriage.
4. Mungkah Lawang Ceremony (Open the Door)
The procession was followed by knocking on the door three times by a messenger, not by the groom. The arrival of the bride and groom will be accompanied by a song sung by a Malat or the groom's messenger. The poem contains the presence of the groom wanting to pick up his bride.
Then Malat from the bride will reply with a song rhyming the bride ready to be picked up. After getting approval, the groom opened the door and carried the bride to a stretcher to be taken to the groom's family home without his parents.
5. Mesegehagung Ceremony
The next Balinese traditional wedding procession is the Mesegehagung ceremony which is a ritual to welcome the bride upon arrival at the groom's residence. The bride and groom are unloaded from the palanquin and prepare to hold the Mesegehagung ceremony. Then the bride and groom's mother went together to the bridal chamber.
In the room, the mother of the groom opened the yellow cloth worn by the bride and then exchanged it for two hundred Kepeng (past currency) worth of Kepeng Satakan (currency in the past).
6. Mekala-kalaan Ceremony (Madengen-dengen)
The next event is continued with the ritual of Mekala-Kalaan or Madengen-Dengen. The purpose of this ceremony is to purify the bride and groom from negative things. This procession will start right when the bell rings and be led by a religious leader or customary holder, depending on the customs and culture of each region.
Touching Feet at a Time
The Mekala-Kalaan ceremony at a traditional Balinese wedding will begin with the bride and groom rotating three times around the witness, Kemulan, and Penegteg studios. The bride carries the trading basket while the groom carries the Tegen-Tegenan. Both of them must touch their feet at the time of the fire.
Buy and sell
The next ritual is very simple, the groom buys a basket that the bride brings. This buying and selling ritual has a meaning so that when they are married, both partners can complement, fill, and give to each other to achieve a common goal.
Severing the Yarn
Finally, the procession of deciding this thread will be the closing of the Mekala-Kalaan ceremony. In this ritual, the bride and groom will instill turmeric, taro, and carriage right behind the Merajan or Sanggah (family prayer place), which aims to perpetuate the family's descendants. After that, the two of them decided the thread on the Dadap branch (Papegatan) as an analogy that the two couples were ready to leave their teenage years.
7. Mewidhi Widana Ceremony (Natab Banten Beduur)
After carrying out the Mekala-Kalaan ceremony, the Balinese traditional wedding ritual was continued with the Mewidhi Widana ceremony which was held at the family temple of the groom's party, led by the Sanggah holder and escorted by the Pinisepuh. In this procession filled with a solemn atmosphere, the bride and groom offer prayers for the presence of a new family to their ancestors to continue their descendants.
8. Table Ceremony (Ma Pejati)
At this stage, both partners have officially become husband and wife. Following Balinese customs, the wife will become part of the husband's extended family. Therefore, a few days after the wedding, the two families determine the day on which the entire family visits the residence of the bride's parents to hold the Mejauman ceremony procession.
This event aims to say goodbye to the bride's extended family, especially to the ancestors of the bride. The arrival of the groom's family is accompanied by traditional Balinese cakes such as pillow cake, Alem, cuscus, Apem, Cerorot, Nagasari, Kekupa, rice, coffee, tea, sugar, betel nut, as well as fruits and Balinese side dishes.
he Balinese traditional wedding procession is arguably not as long as other traditional weddings which usually take days to weeks before the wedding day. However, the meaning in each procession is no less meaningful and profound.
That is the beauty that can be obtained from carrying out traditional weddings, prayers and hopes, and togetherness with family during the wedding procession. In contrast to today's modern weddings, which are shorter.