One of Pak Dewa's cousins had a traditional wedding ceremony and we were invited! Unfortunately because it is an all day event, we only got to see the first part of it. This involved the Bride dressed in yellow, and priests blessing her and the family. Then there was the tooth filing, we're she and another cousin had the sharp ends of their 6 front teeth buffed down by the priests. This is done as a sort of coming of age ceremony, and to rid oneself of the 6 vices (greed,etc). It was explained to me that only close family is allowed around the platform to protect the person from being taken by bad spirits since they are very vulnerable when this takes place, and that they must keep their eyes open the entire time. It didn't take long for the filing and I was really impressed that neither of them showed any sign of pain.
The entire village sent one family representative with baskets full of gifts for the new couple, and then finally the husband came to the house and they performed a marriage ritual which required them to walk through a line of string together, and to reenact the story of parents giving them away etc. I didnt see some of it because guests must be seated in certain areas of the compound based on their social rank and relationship to the family. As a foreign guest I could only sit on one side, but I still observed plenty. This took a few hours and we sadly had to leave. it was pouring rain through the entire thing so i guess it was better that we left anyway. I was told that there were more ceremony's and outfit changes that would take place later that day.
The group left the Sanggar and went back to have lunch. We separated into our groups and the dancers learned a new female dance, which is one of the most basic dances one learns for legong. I really enjoyed that dance and I actually will be in front for the performance. Pray I dont forget the music ques:/.
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