Marriage in Cambodia
Marriage in Cambodia is a social institution which structures Khmer society. The Khmer wedding, with its long history and rich symbolism, is also famous for its specific music, known as phleng kar.
The wedding usually lasts for a day and a half. It starts at the bride's home followed by a religious ceremony and exchange of ritual gifts. The garments worn are covered with jewelry as a mark of respect to the parents of bride and groom, and all the couple's relatives and friends are present. The parents offer blessings and the couple prays to the monks for a happy life. In theory, marriage is monogamic and for life.
History
Origin: symbolic reenactment of the legendary wedding of Preah Thong and Neang Neak
Cambodian brides and grooms reenact in each traditional Khmer wedding because wedding rituals symbolize the marriage of Preah Thaong and his bride Neang Neak.[1] This explains many Khmer wedding customs, in which the groom carries the bride's scarf, symbolizing that he is from afar and is marrying into her family, in contrast to Indian wedding customs where the bride holds the groom's scarf. The bride and groom wear garments decorated with jewelry and are surrounded by family and guests. The couple's garments are a sign of respect to their parents and parents-in-law, both of whom offer their blessings to the couple.
Development of the Khmer wedding rite
Across centuries, the Cambodian rite of marriage developed and integrated various elements which reflect its long history.
Ethnological study of the Khmer wedding
The earliest academic reference to wedding rites in Cambodia was made by French
The first extensive description of the Khmer wedding was published in 1920 by French colonialist Arthur Daguin.[4]
In 1965, Venerable Nhiek Nou, a monk of the Dhammayut order, published a booklet entitled Kpuon Abah-bibah or the Treaty concerning Marriage. It contains four parts, the first two pertaining with the rituals of Khmer weddings for the royal family as for the commoners. It also reprimanded younger generations for adopting Western traditions during the celebration of weddings in Cambodia.[5]
Khmers Rouges: the tragedy of forced marriages
During the Civil War in Cambodia, a Cambodian wedding party was mistakenly razed by B-52s.[6] It was the beginning of a tragic period of Khmer weddings.
The Khmer Rouge divided families and separated the men from the women. The father, mother, and children frequently were separated for many months. A man and woman often did not have time to consummate a marriage, and sexual relations were limited by long separations. Extramarital relations and even flirtations between young people were heavily punished.[7]
Descriptions of newlywed couples being spied on by secret soldiers on their wedding night to ensure sexual intercourse has been recorded.[8]
The modern Khmer wedding
Since the 1990s, although many Cambodians insist that the proper Khmer wedding ceremony should be a three-day event, most Khmer weddings in Phnom Penh are held on a single day. Because of this simplification,[9] a large proportion of the traditional music which used to accompany the celebration has fallen out of use or been completely lost.[10]
Some have been critical of the current trend of exaggerated expenses of Khmer people, especially in the Khmer diaspora, with the belief of the wedding's success being determined monetarily.[11]
Ritual
Royal wedding
Members of the
The
Ordinary wedding
Customs vary as between rural and urban areas, with many city dwellers being influenced by western ideas.[citation needed] The choice of a spouse is usually undertaken by the families of young men and women, sometimes with the help of a matchmaker. [citation needed] A man usually marries between the ages of nineteen and twenty-five and a girl between sixteen and twenty-two. [citation needed]
The traditional wedding is a long and colorful affair. The traditional Khmer wedding originally lasted seven days and seven nights.
In the traditional Khmer wedding ceremony, before the groom enters the house to meet his bride, he kneels and pays homage to the east where the sun rises.[14]
The rite in which participants in a reciprocal relationship "tie the hands" (chang dai) of the bridal couple by making a monetary gift signifies their bond to the newlyweds and their families, as a forme of exchange to promote solidarity and mutual obligation.[15]
Variants
There are some similarities in the wedding among the Souy and Khmer wedding . Meanwhile, there are also differences, especially concerning the dowry.[16]
Music: phleng kar
The Khmer wedding has traditionally been a prominent occasion for music, and wedding music known as phleng kar developed over the centuries.[17]
In the olden days, the traditional Khmer wedding ensemble known as vung phleng kar or vung phleng Khmer was restricted to be played by only old serious male musicians.[18]
The vung phleng kar, which is the most popular of all Khmer music ensembles, can be found in virtually every village, town and city in Cambodia and even in Khmer refugee communities in the United States. The original instrumentation with a leaf (sleuk), a double-reed pipe (prey prebaub, which served as a tuning standard for the ensemble), a musical bow or ksaedieu, a three-stringed fiddle or tro khmer, a long-necked lute or chapei and a vocalist.[19]
The Preah Thaong melody played during Khmer wedding ceremonies is considered sacred.[20] The plheng kar is used in all Khmer weddings, mostly Buddhists, but the texts have also been adapted by Khmer Christians for the celebration of the sacrament of marriage in Christian churches.[21]
The importance of live music in a Khmer wedding is still true in the 21st century: while the funeral music is often recorded, the wedding ritual will always be live. Khmer wedding music is supplied by a hired traditional band that, for much of the ceremony, remains separated from the core ritual action of the ceremony. Guests and main participants of the ceremony do not sing or dance, nor do they exercise an influence on the repertoire performed.[22]
However, in recent years, modern bands and DJs have also become popular at Khmer weddings.[23]
Gastronomy
In the ceremonial of the Khmer wedding, Khmers will bake the Num anssam chrouk, with pork meat, and Num anssam chek , made with banana, as thy usually do for major religious ceremonies such as Pchum Ben or the Khmer New Year.[24]
Filmography
Khmer films of colonial and post-colonial era in Cambodia offer examples of the proper traditional attire for Khmer weddings.[25]
Gellery
-
A bride is greeting guests
References
- ISBN 978-0-8165-2418-1.
- ISBN 978-9971-69-472-2.
- .
- ^ Daguin, Arthur (1920). Le mariage cambodgien (in French). Lucien Dorbon.
- JSTOR 43733548.
- ISBN 978-0-300-14299-0.
- ISBN 978-9971-69-472-2.
- ISBN 978-1-134-17195-8.
- ^ 5th socio-cultural research congress on Cambodia 12-14 November 2002 : papers of the congress (in Khmer). Sākalvidyālay Bhūmin Bhnam Ben. 2003. p. 295.
- ISBN 978-1-5017-1933-2.
- ISBN 978-1-4384-6663-7.
- JSTOR 43733548.
- ISBN 978-1-135-90155-4.
- ^ Cultures of Independence. Reyum. 2001. p. 36.
- ISBN 978-0-520-24179-4.
- ^ 7th Socio-Cultural Research Congress on Cambodia, 15-17 November 2004. Sākalvidyālăy Bhūmin Bhnaṃ Beñ. 2005. p. 479.
- ISBN 978-0-937203-38-5.
- ^ Sam, Sam-Ang (2002). Musical Instruments of Cambodia. National Museum of Ethnology.
- ISBN 978-1-135-90155-4.
- ^ Shapiro, Toni (1994). Dance and the Spirit of Cambodia. Cornell University. p. 450.
- ISBN 978-0-8020-9962-4.
- ^ Canadian University Music Review. Canadian University Music Society. 1997. p. 54.
- ISBN 978-0-313-35066-5.
- ISBN 978-1-57808-195-0.
- ^ Greene, Karen Lisa (1991). Narratives of Love and Courtship: Khmer Refugee Women and the Negotiation of Identity. University of California, Berkeley. p. 64.
Bibliography
- Pich-Sal (1962). La mariage cambodgien (in French). Université Bouddhique Preah Sihanouk Raj.
- Sovy, Ly (2001). The traditional Khmer Wedding: from the 19th to the early 20th centuries (in Khmer). UNESCO.
- McKinley, Kathy Marie (2002). Ritual, Performativity and Music: Cambodian Wedding Music in Phnom Penh. Brown University.