Soke and 4 of our members had a trip to Sri Lanka to attend a wedding of a fellow member. At the ceremony, we did a performance of Aiki Ishin-ryu.

Wedding ceremonies of Sri Lanka

One of our Sri Lankan member held his wedding ceremony in his hometown Colombo, and Soke was invited along with other 4 members.

In this article is the report of the ceremony.

Kandiyan Dance and Poruwa Ceremony

Sri Lankan weddings are unique from the entrance.

The bride and groom are led into the hall by a group of dancers and drummers dressed in traditional costumes.

This dance is called "Kandiyan Dance" and is said to have the meaning of exorcism.

The group goes to the platform called "Poruwa" at the back of the ceremony hall, where they do the Poruwa ceremony for about 45 minutes.

The details of the Poruwa ceremony are lengthy, so I'll briefly summarize:

1. Bowing in accordance with traditional etiquette
2. Exchange of betel leaves
3. The bride and groom's index fingers are tied together with a gold chain and purified with water in a ceremonial jug.
4. Scripture chanting by the girls
5. Ring Exchange
6. The bride and groom feed each other kiri (rice cooked with milk).
7. After the bride and groom disembark from the Poruwa, fresh coconuts are broken with a machete right next to them.

This is the process. Once again, I am surprised at the number of steps.

However, all of the above rituals were performed with great care by all the participants, and it felt like an instant. It was overwhelming to see the religious people of Sri Lanka praying for the happiness of their spouses and the couple warmfully thanking their parents for bringing them up.

Performance of Aikido and Iaido

After the Poruwa ceremony, we demonstrated Kata (型: set of moves) of Aikido, Kata of Tachi vs Jo (sword vs cane), and finally "Shiho Harai Kiyome no Tachi & Musubi no Tachi" (四方払い清めの太刀・結びの太刀: sword movements for the purification of 4 directions and the binding of the couple).

There seemed to have been many participants who saw Aikido for the first time, and hopefully we could entertain them.

Food and Dance

After couples of shows were performed in addition to ours, the wedding dinner starts.

Gorgeous meals were provided in Buffet-style and many of them looked totally unfamiliar to Japanese.

The Sounth Asian foods were indeed really spicy, but thanks to their hospitality, we were able to find some mild food too.

The beginning of the dinner was also the beginning of dancing, which of course is not a show but something that anyone can participate in. I may be scolded for saying that every Sri Lankan people loves to dance, but it is true that the ratio is higher than Japan. There is a DJ and a dance floor at the ceremony and everyone will be dancing to the joyful, South Asian music. Everyone danced in a groove, and became friends regardless of our age.

Last words

That is all. I hope I could express the atmosphere of Sri Lankan weddings.

One thing I can certainly say is that my ability of writing is by far not enough to describe this living culture with passionate people.

Therefore, I really recommend to see them with your own eyes if there is a chance.

I'm sure they will give you a warm welcome.