Marriage Day
According to tradition there are certain rituals which are performed by close friends (usually two) of the groom on this occasion.
1. They bring three hearth-stones from the hills and plant them in the new hearth.
2. They also bring six pot-stands* and six bamboo cylinders**for storing water.
3. One of the friends brings a jug of rice-brew and keeps it in the house.
4. The groom's father brings a fine cock and keeps it in the house.
5. He also brings a basket of rice and keeps it in the new house.
6. The bride's family provides a woven basket (of bamboo and cane) which contains new clothes.
7. Other things like cooking-utensils and the ingredients for cooking like salt, chillies and other spices are provided by both families.
Marriage Ceremony
Marriage feasts are given in both the households on the appointed day. In the olden days, invitation to both the feasts would go in the form of a small parcel of betel-nut and leaves, distributed by a relative, and the invitation was conveyed verbally. When the day's festivities are over, the formal departure of the bride begins. She is accompanied by a few of her friends and escorted to her new home where the boy will be waiting with his friends. No females from the boy's family are allowed to be present on this occasion.
The girl's friends carry a complete set of weaving tools for the new bride to her home. When she arrives, the boy's party receives her with appropriate songs of welcome. After that the boy's father kills the cock he had bought earlier and examines its entrails to predict the future for the new couple. Traditionally, from the day of the marriage for seven days the boy does not sleep with his wife. On the seventh day, the rice-brew which his friends have brought, is taken out and drunk, These seven days complete his last period of abstinence and on the eighth day only, he can consummate his marriage, and thus a new life begins for the couple.
*Pot-stands: Traditionally, the Aos use earthen pots for cooking which have concave bottoms and need special holders to make them stable when placed on the ground. These holders are woven out of bamboo strips and shaped like rings on which pots are placed.
**Bamboo Cylinders: certain lengths of mature green bamboos are cut in which only the lowermost joint is left intact. Thus it becomes a cylindrical receptacle for water. Villagers arrange them in a basket and carry water in them from streams.
Taken from the Book “Ao-Naga Oral Tradtiion” by Temsula Ao, Heritage Publishing House, 2012. The information regarding the traditional practices relating to marriage translated version from a monograph by Rev. Takosungba of Ungma Village by the author and used with permission.
