Unique custom of bride bringing groom home in Ninh Thuan

Contrary to most wedding customs in many places that follow the matriarchal system, at the Cham wedding ceremony in Ninh Thuan , the bride will take the groom home.

The Cham Ba Ni people in Phan Rang (Ninh Thuan) still maintain a matriarchal system. If a marriage wants to be recognized by the villagers as husband and wife, it must be held in a traditional wedding ceremony (in Cham language, Dam Likhah or Dam Bbang Mưnhum), and be blessed by the head monk and dignitaries in the village. The wedding customs of the Cham Ba Ni people demonstrate the important role of women in the matriarchal system, who have the right to "catch a husband".

The bride's family's yard sets up a bamboo tent (called Kajang likhah) to start the official wedding ceremony. Cham weddings are held in March, June, October and November (Cham calendar). On this day, at 3am, the bride's family must prepare the ceremony and food.

Over time, the Cham weddings of the past and present are not much different, from customs to rituals with simple offerings: betel and areca, wine, cakes and especially ikan yau stingray - symbolizing fertility.

Marriage among the Cham people is through a matchmaker. Before that, this person brings some gold, silver, two jars of wine… to the family of the daughter to propose. If the marriage is successful, the two sides set a wedding date. On the wedding day, the son, along with guests and relatives, goes to the bride’s house. And everyone gathers to eat, drink, dance, sing…

According to the matriarchal system, the entire engagement, wedding ceremony and wedding ceremony are initiated by the bride's family. After the main ceremony, the groom will live at his wife's house.

In the photo, bride Thanh Phuong Ai Nhu prepares to put on makeup and wear traditional clothes on her big day.

Ai Nhu and Dao Van Hoa in traditional wedding attire. Today, the bride wore a Cham ao dai, covered her head with a piece of cloth, covering her back, only revealing her face. The groom wore a sarong wrapped around his head with tassels on both sides, all white.

Groom Dao Van Hoa used a silver bowl and scooped water from the bride's house to wash his hands and feet three times according to the Koran, symbolizing cleanliness before entering the ceremony hall.

The bride and groom entered the Kajang Likhah to perform the ceremony. While the priests burned incense, the groom gave his hand to the high priest for baptism. The high priest and the priests read from the Quran to ask Allah for permission for the two young people to become a couple.

The wedding ceremony then took place in the bride's living room. Here, the groom was led into the bride's room to perform traditional rituals: the two sides exchanged betel and areca nuts, the groom gave his dress to the bride... The bride put the betel and areca nuts into her husband's mouth with the meaning that from now on she would take care of the boy's meals.

The bride and groom take turns exchanging wedding rings after saying "I do" to each other. The wedding rings have been blessed by monks beforehand.

The first 3 days and nights are called the wedding night. At this time, the couple sleep separately, eat and drink in the same room, and are supervised.

The appearance of babies in the Cham Bani wedding is also important, symbolizing the blessing that the young couple will have many children in the future.

Their ceremony is usually simple. After the couple is recognized as husband and wife, both families will sit down for tea and drink dried stingray wine until the end of the day.

To Le Cung - Thach Thao

source