For their  Sri Lankan wedding foreign couples can have a Civil wedding, Christian wedding, Buddhist wedding, Hindu wedding or Muslim wedding. Traditional is the Sri Lankan Poruwa ceremony. Most couples getting married in Sri Lanka have a Poruwa ceremony either after their religious ceremony as a blessing or combined into a civil ceremony. The stages of the entire traditional marriage Poruwa Buddhist ceremony in Sri Lanka, described below, takes about 45 minutes

 

A Poruwa ceremony is a traditional Sri Lankan wedding ceremony with Buddhist cultural influences. The ceremony takes place on a "Poruwa", a beautifully decorated, traditional wooden platform. The ceremony involves a series of rituals performed by the bride and groom, and their families.

The Poruwa ceremony appears to have existed in Sri Lanka before the introduction of Buddhism in the 3rd Century B.C. The Poruwa ceremony was a valid custom as a registered marriage until the British introduced the registration of marriages by Law in 1870. Today's Poruwa ceremony has been influenced by both upcountry and low country customs of Sri Lanka.

 

Order of Events

The groom and his relatives assemble on the left of the Poruwa and the bride's family gathers at the right. The bride and groom enter the Poruwa leading with the right foot first. They greet each other with palms held together in the traditional manner. The ceremony officiant then presents betel leaves to the couple which they accept and hand back to him to be placed on the Poruwa.

 

The bride's father places the right hand of the bride on that of the groom as a symbolic gesture of handing over the bride to the groom. The groom's brother hands over a tray with seven sheaves of betel leaves with a coin placed in each.

 

The groom holds the tray while the bride takes one leaf at a time and drops it on the Poruwa. The groom then repeats this process. The groom's brother hands a gold necklace to the groom who in turn places it on the bride's neck. The maternal uncle enters the Poruwa and ties the small fingers of the bride and groom with a single gold thread (to symbolize unity) and then pours water over the fingers.

 

Six girls will then bless the marriage with a traditional chant (Jayamangala Gatha). The groom presents to his bride a white cloth which in turn is presented to the bride's mother. This is an expression of the groom's gratitude to his mother-in-law.

 

The bride's mother will then present a plate of milk rice specially cooked for the occasion to the bride who feeds a piece to the groom The groom then feeds the bride. As the newly married couple steps down from the Poruwa, the groom's family member breaks a fresh coconut in two.

 

It is common after the wedding ceremony for the couple to enjoy an elephant ride