One of the unique cultural features of the Cham people in Ninh Thuan is the wedding custom. Although influenced by Brahmanism, the Cham wedding ceremony in Ninh Thuan brings more traditional culture than religious culture.
About the Cham wedding ceremony in Ninh Thuan
Most of the Cham people in Ninh Thuan province follow the Ba La Mon religion. They have the concept that there are 3 births in a person’s life, of which the first birth is at birth. Being married or married is the second birth, and the third is the time of death. 
The Cham people consider the second birth (wedding ceremony) to be the most important in life (Photo @ Hoang Linh)
Among these three births, the Cham consider the second birth (being married) the most important. Because, this is the decisive factor to maintain the race, inherit, promote good cultural values of the nation that the previous generation created, preserved and passed on to the next generations.
The marriage ceremony of the Cham people in Ninh Thuan
Alley ceremony (Palwak panwơc) and closing ceremony (Paklauh panwơc)
The Cham people maintain a matriarchy, so the right to take initiative in marriage belongs to the girl’s family. So the bride’s family will go to ask the husband, and the son, after getting married, has to follow in-law to stay at his wife’s house.
The first rite will be the Palwak Panwơc, followed by the questioning Ceremony (Nau pwơc) with a simple offering such as betel and areca, wine, fruit cake, banh tet, and rays representing fertility. blossomed, ‘mass descendants’ later.
After the solicitation ceremony is the closing ceremony (Paklauh panwơc). In this ceremony, the two of them together decide the date of the ceremony to proceed to the official wedding (Harei bbang mưnhum) for the young couple.
The Cham people follow matriarchy, so the right to take initiative in marriage belongs to the girl’s family (Photo @Jamen Ivan)
In the Cham custom, the parents born do not marry for their children, but because Mr. Inu and Amu (grandparents are nuns) – the bride’s godmother, grandparents must be married. happy, harmonious family, children are good, suitable with the bride and groom, knowledgeable customs and rituals. If the groom’s family agrees, the grandparents will, on behalf of the bride’s family, discuss with the bride’s family the next steps to getting married.
In addition, according to the prescribed custom, in a year, a woman and a woman are allowed to master the kiss only once a year because parents are conceived that only one child is born per year.
Select a wedding date for the Ceremony of Ceremony (Paklauh panwơc)
Like other ethnic groups, the Cham people also think that a good day is good. Due to matriarchy, the wedding ceremony is also related to the negative relationship, must fall in the exact months of March, June, October, and November of the Cham calendar, and must be aimed at the summer of the moon phase (by the moon – from the night of the full moon to when the moon is over).
The wedding day must fall on even days (negative numbers): 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 Cham calendar and must be on three days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) of the week. During those three days, the ceremony officially fell on a Wednesday. The wedding ceremony starts at the beginning of the afternoon (because the afternoon is the negative system).
The Cham people calculate days, times, good and bad things quite complicated, but strictly follow certain rules and must be unified from start to finish, the wedding ceremony belongs to the sound and ‘mother’ character very clearly. This is a custom showing the matriarchal system throughout the history of Cham culture.
The day of the wedding ceremony is even (negative number), which represents the cultural beauty in the matriarchy (Photo @Jamen Ivan)
Official wedding ceremony (Harei bbang mưnhum)
In the wedding ceremony of the Cham people in Ninh Thuan , the wedding will start on Wednesday at the groom’s house, the wedding takes place with simple offerings. After that, around 2:00 pm, the godmother will take the groom and the groom’s family to start off to the girl’s house. Near the destination, the bride’s family held a ceremony to welcome the bride’s husband (Rauk anuk mưatau) from outside the village gate to the girl’s house.
Wedding dishes are traditional dishes of the Cham people made from agricultural products and domestic animals such as chicken, duck, fish … vegetable soup, especially stingrays because the Cham people perceive fish. Stingray is the type of fish that gives birth to children, wishing the young couple will be heaped and rusty, in addition, stingrays also represent light.
The official wedding ceremony will be held by Mr. and Mrs. Nuư (godparents) as the owner of the wedding (Photo @ Hoang Linh)
A unique cultural feature in the wedding of the Cham Ba La Mon people is that on the wedding day, the bride and groom’s biological parents have to hide their face and do not appear in the ceremony of taking the bride and groom and entering the room of the couple. young husband. Relatives are very important to the Cham people because they think that ‘when they are a child, they are the children of their parents, growing up to be the children of relatives’.
Therefore, at the time of marriage, parents entrust their grandparents ‘work to let the bride and groom get acquainted with the relatives of the previous two families’ families. Only after the entrance ceremony could parents appear. 
The wedding ceremony took place at the bride’s house (Photo @ Hoang Linh)
The entrance ceremony of the Cham people in Ninh Thuan is also very unique, within 3 days 3 nights, the young couple will not be allowed to room, in the wedding room there will be a neck holding a pink silk tray including betel and areca. wax burns around the clock, separating the bride from the groom.
The young couple must keep the candle from going out. After three nights, grandparents do a small ceremony to remove the spells on the pillow and remove their neck, before husband and wife can initiate a defense. This three-night forbidden custom had Indian influences. The ancient Indians highly valued sexual activity after marriage and this custom became an art that is typical of the love scriptures still circulating today.
The afternoon of the ancient tower (Photo @Jamen Ivan)
Through the wedding of the Cham people in Ninh Thuan , you can see many unique customs and traditions, especially the absence of wedding challenges, and the traditional cultural beauty of the Cham people is always preserved and promoted. very good. This inheritance has brought about the unique culture of the Cham people in this ‘sunny like Phan, windy like Rang’ land.