Tibetan wedding
Wandering around Bauddha on the day of Buddha Purnima – 30 may – we came across partying Tibetans.
Organization
The wedding party took place in a regional clinic of Tibetan medicine. The area of the wedding celebration consisted of a small square with a tent, where tables and chairs were set up, and the waitresses were carrying dishes and drinks. The nearby tancbuda consisted of a large hall, where they feasted and a small stage where dances took place.
Gentlemen were dressed in traditional Tibetan dresses of dark shiny materials, or simply in jackets and suits. Amongst the women were beautiful Tibetan long dresses tied at the waist, in shimmering colors. At the feast of adults, children were whirling – also in beautiful clothes in the Tibetan style. Sometimes you could see someone who forgot to dress up splendidly, which did not interfere with good fun.
Young couple
On the stage against the wall, the convicts were sitting- because that’s how the young couple looked.
I submitted the wishes of happiness to the bride and groom. The groom acknowledged this with a nod of a head, a glued smile and with the eyes shouting for help . The bride did not respond at all, but only looked through the eyes of someone who is plunging into the depths of despair and anger.
They were both dressed in traditional Tibetan clothes, the boy was wearing a hat, and the girl, a wreath. Both were accompanied by witnesses, in this case more like ‘comforters.’ The girl looked furious, the boy rather afraid. Not understanding the history of this couple, we understood that it was rather arranged marriage, and that both were rather in the highest age to make a relationship, we can expect them to have their own personal preferences in this direction.
Arranged marriages
Anyway – they were sitting on the stage in four chairs at that moment and they did not look happy at all. Among the wedding guests, one could recognize a face that looked deceptively similar to the groom – perhaps his father – cheerfully happy. As it happens in the traditions of arranged marriages – adults know that the later these relationships are made, the more difficult it is with the young. However, the couple usually find each other in the course of a relationship and are able to create a happy family together. That’s how it used to be several decades ago – when the concept of democracy and the cult of one’s own views did not exert so much influence on the youth.
Statistics have shown that the percentage of marriages that have survived for years is greater among the arranged arrangements than among those included as love marriage.
The presence of a guru
On a side against the wall sat three lamas. They looked dignified and filled the, spirit necessary for a wedding, atmosphere with good hopes and wishes.
