Home
| About David |
Past Visiting Cyclists
| Guestbook |
Contact |
Links
|
Malaysian Traditional and Culture
An Indian wedding in Parit Buntar
Malaysian Indian wedding ceremony in my house. This is my son
wedding. The
whole wedding ceremony would take days. I
lives in Parit Buntar, not far from Penang. The bride had to be
collected in Taiping, about 50 km away. A long row of cars went
to Taiping. However, the groom was not allowed to join. Then all of the quests were offered some food. There wasn't too much time because the bride had to be taken away before 6pm. This was considered to be the best time and bring good luck to the future marriage. The bride would be taken to relatives in Parit Buntar since the marriage itself would happen the next day.
The ladies
in my house were busy with hair and make-up the whole night. In
the morning we went to the hall where the
wedding would take place. It could not have been taken place in the original hall since the roof has been blown off some weeks earlier. The replacement hall however was also big and enough. After the ceremony there would be a lunch. There were about 1200 people expected. The ceremony started with the groom. Together with a friend they went through a series of rituals. Vegetables, fruits, oil and many other things were used. This part of the ceremony took some time. Then the Suresh (my son) left the stage, it was literally a stage, to make room for the bride who was now taken to the priest. The bride went through the same ceremony. At last groom and bride came together at the stage where the final part of the ceremony took place.
And
while all this happened, the lunch had started off. It was of
course all great Indian food. People were waiting in long rows
to collect their food. Once finished your lunch, you were
expected to make space for the newcomers. Inside the hall the ceremony was still going strong. There were two musicians hired. One was blowing a horn, the other played tabla. And it was very loud. How Suresh and his new wife could hear the priest was a little miracle.
After the ceremony it was time to congratulate the happy couple.
Photos had to made and more photos were made. And it became that
there wasn't even enough food for the guests. The had quite some
more people showed up then expected. It was time for a series of pictures with friends and relatives. However, here's the picture I like the best of that special afternoon for Suresh and his wife:
For both families this was the first child to be married. And in that case it had to be a big celebration. And you can believe me, it was a big celebration. As I said, there were more then 1200 at the wedding itself. But at night the party at my house continued. Many of my friends and Suresh's friends who had not been able to attend the wedding showed up now. Most of these friends were Chinese. They couldn't be there because the wedding took place at the same moment as an important Chinese temple festival. However, at night they were free and about 200 more people showed up to congratulate Suresh and his new wed wife. But if you think that was the end of the festivities, you're wrong. The brides family too had a party for the friends and relatives who couldn't attend the wedding itself. So the next day we moved to Taiping where Suresh and his bride gave us a warm welcome. Again, like at the wedding and at my house the food was excellent. It was this night to we could eat meat. The first days of the wedding procedures it is forbidden to eat meat for the bride and groom but after the wedding meat is back on the menu. At the bride's house we had excellent chicken and mutton together with a spicy salad, dhal and vegetables.
I now was dressed in western clothes while his wife was wearing another beautiful sari. I had stopped by that time to count how many sari's she had changed but I still recognized how beautiful she looked. The last picture I want to show you is Suresh Kumar and Kali Thevi sitting like king and queen at the brides house.
I can only say this was to me a life experience I would not have wanted to miss. For all of you who have never experienced such an event. |
Copyright © 2006 David's Cycling Adventure. All rights reserved.
My American
bicycle touring friends, Tim and Cindie Travis, gave me the book
below when they stayed at my house in Malaysia.
The Road That Has No End: How we traded our ordinary lives for a global
bicycle touring adventure
