Another interesting thing which used to happen in the olden days (not heard of it in recent times) was how highly virginity was held. So highly that after the wedding, everyone stays in front of the house waiting for the groom to come out and show to the whole village the white bed sheet which has been used to make their bed. If this bedspread is stained with blood then it means the girl was a virgin and the celebration would begin in earnest but if not, the girl is sent back to her parents in shame. She has brought shame to herself and her family and people become wary of that family.

During the wedding ceremony itself, the groom comes with a group of young men to pay respect to the girl’s family. After some things are said, they are all to lie prostrate before the girl’s family to show their respect. This is a sight to see as they all lie at the same time like trees being felled. They can not get up unless they are bailed with money (a good money making scheme lol). His people have to drop enough money before the bride’s parents tell them to stand.

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Ancient Burma

In ancient Burma (modern-day Myanmar), on the night of the marriage, a group of man would gather around the house of the newly-wed couple. They would then hurl stones and other objects on the roof and through the windows, damaging the house sometimes injuring the people inside. All through the night, the attack would go on, and apparently there was no way of escaping the ordeal, once news of the marriage leak out. “It is difficult to conceive any reason for this extraordinary practice,” said a historian.

Ancient Gaul

At one time in ancient Gaul (modern-day France), when a man wanted to marry a woman, he had to pare his nail and send them to the latter. After this, they could already live together as man and wife.

Ancient Peru

In some parts of ancient Peru, when a girl was sought in marriage, the mother, in the presence of the bridegroom’s relatives would break her daughter’s virginity with a phallic-like object. This was to demonstrate to all present that the girl had been well cared and had preserved her virginity until then. It was a proof of the honor and respectability of the bride. It also signified that the subject had passed from childhood, and had become a woman ready for the responsibilities and duties of a wife. They believed that it was bad for a marriage if the husband would be the one to devirginize his bride.

Borneo

Another curious wedding rite was practiced among the Bornean tribe of Bindjoos. To be eligible for marriage, a young man must kill a member of an enemy tribe, and in the event of his wife dying, a second marriage depended upon a second killing.

South Africa

Among the Hottentots, a primitive tribe in South Africa, an ox will be killed for the celebration. However, they would not only eat the meat, but also smear themselves with the blood and fat, powder themselves with a stuff called bucku and paint their cheeks with red chalk. The priest in the wedding would alternately urinate on the bride and the groom. Afterward, he would bless the couple.

Ancient Persia

The nomadic tent-dwelling tribes of Persia (modern-day Iran) celebrated their nuptials in lonely deserts. As the bride was seeing conducted in solemn silence from the tent of her mother to her future home, the bridegroom would meet her halfway, carrying in his hand an orange or an apple. When he is sufficiently near to make sure of his aim, he would throw it at the veiled maiden with all his force- the harder he hits her, the more fortunate she would be esteemed.

Ancient India

The Punjabs of India once had an interesting marriage ritual for a widower taking his third wife. A sheep dressed up as a bride is led by the groom around the sacrificial fire, while the real bride rested nearby. This act was a precaution against a series of ill-luck which has supposedly caused by the death of two former wives. They did this to ensure the safety of the new wife. It was believed that the malicious jealousy of the first wife had caused the death of the second one, and this ceremony was supposed to to divert such evil influences to the substitute in the mock marriage.

And finally, the most unusual of these all, the Brahmans of southern India had this primitive custom of marriage to a tree. They believed that a younger brother should not marry before an older brother. And to fulfill this requirement, when there was no satisfactory bride in sight for an older brother, he was married to a tree, thereby giving the younger brother a chance to take a wife. They believed that it was actually the spirit residing in the tree to which the older brother was being wed.

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Marriage rites vary in different places and among people of different social tradition. Let’s us discover some strange and fascinating marriage rituals.

The Tausug of Mindanao

The Tausug of Mindanao is an ethnic tribe that has a bizarre marriage rite. They can marry as many as they want. Polygamy is allowed in their culture. Sounds like nothing unusual. Here’s the peculiar part, a Tausug man can abduct a woman for a wife and the marriage is considered binding and legal.

The Ifugaos of Ifugao Province

Ifugao is a province part of Cordillera Autonomous Region. The people are also called Ifugao. They are famous for the Ifugao Rice terraces. These people have an unusual wedding tradition, they are the proponent of the so-called “trial marriage” or popularly known now as “live-in.” A man and a woman could live together as husband and wife for a certain period of time. Ifugaos, like any other people all throughout the world, strongly believe that the very essence of a man’s existence is to have a child or children. Thus, if the woman doesn’t have the capability to give the man a child, the man has the option to abandon her and look for another woman who can bore him a child. If the woman gets pregnant, the marriage will be arranged. The family of the groom-to-be is going to give a dowry to the family of the bride-to-be like of piece of land, jewelries or beast of burden.

The Kalingas of Kalinga Province

These people from the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) have a peculiar wedding ceremony. The priest who solemnizes the marriage fills his mouth with water, gurgle it a little, and squirts it on the faces of the bride and the bridegroom. Then the priest would say; may the good spirits grant that your lives will be forever, just like an ever flowing stream (of water).

The Aetas of Luzon

Another peculiar wedding ceremony is that of the Aetas. Mt.Pinatubo is the home for many Aetas but many are displaced by the explosion of the volcano in 1991. After the bride and the groom have fed each other with a handful of rice supposedly blessed by god, a “mabalian” or a priest conducting the ritual would gently knock the couples’ heads to perfect the marital vow.

The Ilongots of Northern Luzon

Years ago, among the headhunting tribes of Ilongots, a man who intended to marry a woman must pass a test almost similar to that undergone by the legendary William Tell. But here, the target was a one foot long bamboo tube held under the armpit of the prospective bride. The man had to shoot the arrow through the narrow hole of the bamboo tube. Should he fail or injure the woman, he would be beheaded, but if he passed that test, he would undergo another test, this time, he had to go headhunting and present a human head, complete with drying blood in it. And finally, to seal the marriage rites, the couples’ index fingers must be sliced with a knife.

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