Buddhist Wedding Jewelry

In a religious sense, there is no such thing as a "Buddhist wedding," because the Buddha never saw a wedding or marriage as a religious issue. Rather, it is only a social one, so there are no requirements for a Buddhist wedding. However, that didn't stop Buddhist wedding customs from evolving.

Buddhism is definitely one of the world's least violent religions. While you hear of Christians waging religious war (Crusades) and Muslims being incredibly violent (Jihad), and even Jews embarking on religious wars in the past when the Hasmoneans were in power (John Hyrcanus), Buddhists don't really fight. They just kind of sit there and meditate.

In fact, one of Buddhisms great accomplishments was the conversiont of Indian king Asoka to buddhism once he realized that fighting and death weren't so much fun after all. The Chinese, however, have been violent towards Tibetan Buddhists because, well, they're Communists, and everyone's equal, and whoever isn't is subjugated or something.

Anyway, buddhist bridal jewelry begins with a dress called Bhaku. It's a full length frock, worn with a blouse made out of silk called a Hanju. The silk is called khichen. The bridal jewelry itself is called Khau consisting of large precious and semi-precious stones like turquoise, coral, pearl and others. They are usually worn around the neck but also on the forehead. Some bridal apparel includes heavy gold bracelets.

None of these jewelry pieces are mandatory. It's just what Buddhists generally do. Since the Buddha shuns physical indulgence, there'd be no reason for Buddhists to consecrate sex or any ceremony leading up to it. It's a wonder they reproduced and still exist, but they're going pretty strong.

The Druze Wedding

The Druze wedding is quite peculiar, as is almost everything the Druze do. They're a very secretive sect, and see themselves as descendents of Moses' father in law Jethro. They have an ingenious religious social structure that allows a Druze to be either secular or religious, and the choice is totally up to him. Only religious Druze are allowed to learn their holy texts, which are guarded with great secrecy. No one can convert in or out of the religion, and they believe in reincarnation fiercely, citing the evidence that their numbers have not grown or shrunk in all the years of their existence.

The Druze wedding is surrounded by a week of fanfare, where entire villages follow the groom around in a giant procession. Since the Druze are so secretive and arguably xenophobic, it is hard to come across much information about their weddings, though I was able to make out that besides the dowry, the only jewelry involved in a Druze wedding is a chain of cloves given to the bride by her friends several days before.

Besides that, one of the oddest of their customs involves flower with silver coins in it, which, several days before the wedding, the bride sticks to her future in-laws' door.

There is no bridal jewelry on the bride, though modest dress is required of both bride and groom. Anything a groom gives his bride in terms of jewelry is optional, though they may have some hidden law that mandates some sort of transaction. Being that their religion is closed, it is hard to tell.

The wedding ceremony itself is called the dohalla which is when the bride does her flour sticking schtick. The groom then comes and does the same thing, lifts her veil, and says, basically, "Hi there." Then they're married.

If you're a minimalist on jewelry and diamonds, then maybe you should be a Druze.

But oh well, you're probably not, and therefore you never will be.

Jewish Bridal Jewelry

For our first few posts, we'll go through bridal jewelry by religion. Judaism, one of the world's oldest living religions and certainly the oldest in the Western world, actually has more jewelry associated with the home of the married couple rather than with the bride. However, the centerpiece of the wedding is actually a piece of jewelry - the wedding ring.

According to Jewish law, a wedding is actually cemented by a financial transaction, either by contract or by money, or the value equivalent. Without either of these things, marriage does not take place. The transaction can take the form of anything with the value of about 2.5 cents (a prutah in Jewish parlance), except things that are quickly consumed such as food, water, or other commodities.

There are several Holocaust stories of marriages that took place in ghettos where bridal jewelry was obviously not available. In those cases, a pair of shoes would suffice, or basically anything useful. In cases where food is considered extremely valueable, such as during the Holocaust, marriage can be enacted through a food transaction.

It has long been Jewish custom that the bridal jewelry of choice be wedding rings. Traditionally, there are no stones on the ring and it is all metal, generally gold, though any metal of value may be used.

As far as other wedding jewelry is concerned, no other jewelry should be on the bride's body under the wedding canopy so there is no confusion as to what was given and its value. Afterwards, other bridal jewelry can be put back on.

Interestingly enough, bridal jewelry is one of the rights given to a Jewish wife during marriage, and is one of the goods that a Jewish husband must supply his wife with. Lack of it is grounds for divorce, surprisingly enough.