Wedding in Myanmar

Wedding in Myanmar
Ways of Love
As devout Buddhists, most of Myanmar people take to heart the teachings of the Buddha in their daily lives. Among those teachings, metta or loving-kindness plays an important role and the Buddha Himself was the greatest practitioner of loving-kindness in the whole world. Indochina travel Myanmar
It was out of this immense love toward all creatures and living beings that He had resolved to become a Buddha at the beginning of a series of existences so that He could help them get out of their vicious circles. In one of His sermons, the Buddha exhorted His followers to regard all living creatures as the only son of one's own.
Because of this particular teaching of the Buddha that Myanmar people have come to acquire such positive characteristics as being kindhearted, helpful, sympathetic, benevolent, tolerant and forgiving. Myanmar travel tours
However, you may be taken by surprise if you are informed of the exact number of ways (or rays) of love nominally existent among Myanmar people. Sometimes, they might mention the 528 or 1,500 ways of love in the Myanmar tradition. People mention the 528 ways of love to indicate pure, selfless, platonic love between two human beings, and the 1,500 ways refer to love of a passionate and selfish nature especially between man and woman.

Although both numbers are generally talked about as love, only the 528 way is the real loving-kindness while the 1,500 way is not genuine love but only base passion and lust looked upon as defilements in Buddhism.
These exact numbers originated in Buddhist scriptures. The scriptures divide people, mind and matter, direction, type of love and defilement into different categories and add them up or multiply them with each other.
Wedding
When a boy and a girl come of age and, love one another and will want to marry and live happy ever after, a wedding ceremony will be performed for them where their parents, relatives, honourable guests and friends are invited, so that they will be recognized as a newly married couple. This wedding ceremony we present, celebrated according to Myanmar Traditions and computable to the modern age.
As marrying is a once in a life time occasion, Myanmar women regard the wedding ceremony very seriously, and you can be sure the bride will be having cold feet, butterflies in her stomach and perspiration on her forehead as she faces this very special day of her entire life. On this day of matrimony, it's a custom for the bride's family: parents, brothers and sisters, to dress her up in the finest of attire and bedeck her with the best jewelleries they can afford.
With her hip-length jacket….long-length silk or satin “ htain-me-thein”, the bride looks somewhat like a princess of the Royal Court in the olden days of the Myanmar kings. And the bridegroom surely looks elegant an handsome in this traditional Myanmar men's attire which consists of a head-dress called “ gaung baung”, a long sleeve stiff collared shirt, a double length men's silk longyi called a “ taung shay longyi”, a traditional men's jacket and a velvet slipper.
It's a very encouraging and practical custom for the friends and relatives who attend the nuptial ceremony to shower the couple with gifts such as household items and personal affects that will help the marrying couple get on their feet with their life-long journey. To watch parents of the bride and bridegroom heartily welcoming their guests with smiles and handshakes, and observe the wedlock couple give away thank-you card will you warm-up to these delightful traditional customs. The wedding hall is filling up with the invited guests….and as it was the custom in the days of our king to entertain guests with the traditional glass mosaic embedded gold-gilded Myanmar Orchestra. Nowadays, due to time changes, guests are entertained with modern musical instruments. Guests are arriving in full swing; time for the wedding couple to appear is drawing near. You can be sure the bride and groom hearts are beating much faster.
Buddhist wedding ceremonies in Myanmar are more than religious occasions. The bridal couple solemnizes the union by paying obeisance to parents and elders rather than making vows in front of God or a cleric. For a Myanmar Buddhist couple, the union is legal if they live together and this fact is recognized by their neighbours and society. In other words, if they declare themselves wed, it is so. But now the popular modern method is for the pair to sign the marital contract in the presence of a judge and some witnesses.
Though a Myanmar bride does not give a dowry, it is more normal for man to offer some jewellery, property or money or to pay for the expenses of the wedding when asking for the hand of his lover. This, however, is not a strict rule and is an individual decision. After signing the contract, a reception is held for friends and relatives of both sides.
A wedding reception can be held at a hotel ballroom, community hall, monastery chamber, makeshift auditorium, or even at home depending on the preference and budget of the couple. It can be a formal ceremony with certain rituals or an informal ceremony, again depending on the choice of the couple. In formal ceremonies, a reception hall with a stage is hired and guests are sent invitations in advance.
At the specified time of the ceremony, the couple makes an entry into the hall followed by parents and family members to the accompaniment of the traditional wedding march played by a band. A master of ceremonies then presides over the occasion and recites an elaborately written profile of the bridal couple. After the master of ceremonies has formally announced the couple as husband and wife, the guests feast on refreshments while the music plays on. Finally, the newly weds and their parents greet each guest and express words of thanks.
In an informal ceremony, the venue can be anywhere and no master of ceremonies, band of musicians, or a wedding march is required. The couple's dress, as well as those of the guests, are less formal, ornate or showy. The guests can come at their convenience during the reception hours and are served with a meal or refreshments upon arrival. After greeting the newly wedded couple, the guests can also leave at their convenience.
In both formal and informal ceremonies, it is necessary for the guests to bring a gift for the couple as a token of good will and as contribution toward the new family.