written by:
Ni Luh Gede Dian Pondika Cahyaningsih
One of important things of someone’s life is to get marriage. The marriage is celebrated by holding a wedding ceremony. In Bali, there are several rituals of wedding ceremony which have to be done. It is important to do because of the strong Balinese traditional custom. People in Bali believe that by holding those rituals, they show their respect to their ancestors. In Puri Gede Agung, there are some unique wedding customs. By interviewing a believable person and reading some articles and supported books, the writer gets some information about it. In this paper, the writer will tell about the pre-wedding, during wedding, and after wedding ceremony between a man from brahmana caste (the highest level of Balinese society) and a woman from sudra caste (the lowest level of Balinese society) in Puri Gede Tabanan.
On pre-wedding ceremony, the groom and his family comes to the bride family’s house to do memadik. In this ritual, the groom asks permission to marry the bride. Besides, they search dewasa ayu or a good day to hold the wedding ceremony.
After few days, the wedding ceremony is begun. The first ritual is called mebiakaon. This ceremony is held in the groom’s house. There is a unique custom in Puri Gede Tabanan during this ceremony. The groom is changed by a Keris (symbolic of purusa). So, the bride marries the Keris at that time. It is caused by the lower caste of the bride. The groom –who is from brahmana caste –is not allowed to sit together with the bride during the ceremony.
The last is mabebas, a ritual which signs that the bride and the groom are already as a wife and a husband. The wife lives in the Puri with her husband. But, when she gets menstruation she has to live in an old house around the Puri far from her husband and his family. It also happens when she gives birth to a baby until the baby’s placenta is broken. Sometimes it makes the wife feel in a discrimination situation.
Those rituals which are held on wedding ceremony in Puri Gede Agung show us that the custom and tradition has a sturdy role in the society. The awig-awig or the traditional laws in that place have to be obeyed. Although it can be a heartbreaker for the wife, but love and respect for the ancestors make it still exists until today.
