Words and photos Agung Parameswara

The bride-to-be, AA Istri Vera Krisna Dewi, could not help crying as she listened to the Ngungkab Lawang verses that marked her last day in her childhood home, Jero Kelodan Puri Abianbase palace.

Vera held her mother'€™s hand tightly as she wiped away her tears, while her mother whispered quietly, encouraging her daughter and praying for her happiness as they left the palace clad in traditional white Balinese attire.

It was the morning of Jan. 27 and the palace was celebrating the marriage of two members of the Dewa Manggis family lineage, which comprises the families of 14 of Gianyar'€™s royal households.

Of the many special rituals and ceremonies required for the wedding, the most sacred ritual prior to the wedding ceremony is known as Mapes or Melilit, which requires the bride to be wrapped in a long white cloth, as though her body was being prepared for cremation.

According to a prominent family member Anak Agung Waisnawa Putra, Mapes is only held for weddings between members of the Dewa Manggis lineage.

'€œBoth the bride and groom must be of the Dewa Manggis family, so it is what we call a Saling Sumbah wedding [a union that involves members of the inner family],'€ he said.

The Mapes ritual has a deep philosophical meaning and represents the transformation of a girl entering adulthood as a married woman. The ritual represents rebirth and allows the girl to attain physical and spiritual readiness for her new life.

A similar ritual has previously been held twice in Puri Gianyar, first in 1948, when the Gianyar king, AA Gde Oka, married AA Istri Putri from Puri Peliatan, while the second took place in 43 years ago in 1973 when the king'€™s daughter, AA Istri Agung, married AA Gde Oka from Puri Sukawati.

Puri Abianbase had also performed the ritual in 1990, when AA Gde Ngurah Bagus from Puri Rangki married AA Rai Sita Laksmi from Puri Rangki Siangan.

Sita recalled, '€œAt the time my body was tightly wrapped in a long white cloth, I felt like I was a dead body. All the family was crying. The atmosphere was so mystical because the kidung, or verses and songs that are performed for the dead, were sung.'€

Hundreds of relatives from the Dewa Manggis family accompanied the bride as she was placed on a bamboo structure shaped like a carriage. Then the groom, AA Ngurah Agung, Hindu high priest Ida Pedanda Gde Ngurah Bun Kaniten and an elderly member of the palace led the procession to the groom'€™s home in Puri Gianyar (Gianyar palace).

On Friday, Jan. 29, the much-awaited wedding procession took place at Puri Agung Gianyar.

The bride wore an elaborate, glamorous outfit that included green cloth decorated with gold print and gold flower ornaments in her hair.

Likewise, the groom was clad in the classic Puri Gianyar-style wedding outfit and carried a sacred kris known as Ki Raksasa Bedak, which has 13 curves and is embedded with precious jewels.

According to AA Gde Raka Payadnya, the kris once belonged to an Abianbase soldier who had obtained it as a gift from the Pura Dalem Tanjung temple in Abianbase, Gianyar. The kris is believed to have spiritual power and the soldier gave the weapon to the king of Gianyar.

At 5 p.m., the peak of the wedding ceremony took place at Mrajan Agung, the family shrine in Puri Gianyar. Around 1,000 people witnessed the royal wedding.

Raka Payadnya, an elderly member of Abianbase royal household, said the ceremony had been held at Mrajan Agung because both bride and groom came from the same royal family clan.

'€œI am extremely happy that the ceremony ran so well. After 43 years, this ceremony has once again been testimony of our family'€™s precious legacy,'€ said the groom, who is the king of Gianyar'€™s grandson.

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