Getting To Know Mepamit And Dharma Suaka, The Bali Customary Procession Ahead Of The Mahalini And Rizky Febian Weddings

JAKARTA The marriage of celebrity couple Rizky Febian and Mahalini is currently being discussed by the public. The series of Balinese traditional processions and rituals carried out by this couple also stole the attention.

Singers Mahalini and Rizky Febian officially became husband and wife after undergoing a marriage contract at the Raffles Hotel, Kuningan, East Jakarta, Friday (10/5/2024). The event was not only attended by relatives and the families of the bride and groom, but also several public figures such as Dicky Chandra and former Purwakarta Regent Dedi Mulyadi who were invited as witnesses.

"One time the consent was immediately legal," said Dicky at the Raffles Hotel Jakarta.

After the Kabul ijab, the process was continued with the Sundanese traditional event including sungkem, sawer, and hubap lilkung.

Prior to this, Mahalini and Rizky had also carried out a series of Mepangit and Dharma Suaka traditional processions with a strong Balinese feel.

Marriage is a sacred moment for every couple, including for the Balinese people. Rizky and Mahalini held a mepamit ceremony and a dharma of asylum ahead of their wedding.

The mepamit ceremony was held at the singer's residence with the full name Ni Luh Ketut Mahalini Ayu Raharja which is located in Tibubeneng Village, North Kuta District, Badung, Bali, on May 5, 2024.

In short, Sule, Rizky Febian's father, said that mepamit is a traditional Balinese tradition which is held as a form of saying goodbye to brides to their ancestors because they are getting married and following the men's replacement family.

"Parties from the family will be brought by the prospective groom asking for permission. So goodbye to his ancestors if it's in Sundanese, that's how it is. So the news circulating on May 5 is not a reception," said Sule.

Mahalini as the bride and groom was handed over by the traditional chairman and her parents to the prospective groom and his family. They will be responsible for the bride and groom.

Not just a goodbye, mepamit has a deep meaning for Balinese Hindus. As described in the thesis of the State Islamic University (UIN) student Kiai Haji Achmad Siddiq Jember Tinjauan Urf on the Mepamit Tradition for Hindu Muallaf Ahead of Rizal Azwan's (2023) Islamic Marriage Process.

Reported by Kompas, the bride who left Hinduism to marry a Muslim couple, is obliged to make a memomit before the Islamic marriage procession takes place.

The mepamit procession was carried out as a form of respect for ancestors and ancestral traditions. The mepamit ceremony, as reported by a study entitled "Pawawahan Ceremony in Hinduism" by Luh Sukma Ningsih and O Wayan Suwendra published in the Journal of Widya Sastra of Hindu Religious Education in 2020, is usually held at the wedding's residence.

In this event, the groom came with a banten or handover of various handovers such as Balinese specialties, fruits, and ceremonial equipment.

The mepamit process begins with the opening and welcoming of the family spokesman, as well as traditional and religious leaders. There are also ceremonial equipment that must be prepared such as ornamental preparations, tinga color flowers, solar rebuttals, clubs when nareswari, tikeh, keris, white threads, tegen-tegen, suwun-suwunan, trade-trade, broom lidi, sambuk kupakan or coconut serabut, and kelampung. The ceremony ends with a prayer held in temple according to belief.

Not only done before marriage, the tradition of mepamit is also carried out for Hindu couples who are divorced. This ceremony is also known as matur piuning or mepamit divorced.

After carrying out the mepamit ceremony, the husband and wife were declared legally divorced according to Balinese customary law and national law.

Apart from mepamit, Rizky Febian and Mahalini also attended the asylum dharma ceremony, also referred to as a proposal before undergoing a marriage.

In this tradition, the prospective groom officially proposes a potential bride and groom. Like the mepamit, the dharma of asylum also has a deep meaning in Bali's Hindu marriage.

Dharma Suaka was carried out by clarifying the purpose of marriage, minimizing misunderstandings, and building effective communication between the bride and groom. Understandably, communication is very fundamental in the smooth running of events.

In the process of asylum dharma, it is usually guided by a Hindu religious instructor. He will convey an understanding to the bride and groom in order to create a marriage that is sukhinah bhawantu or a harmonious and happy family.

Dharma asylum is also a sign of the start of the holy journey of marriage in the Balinese Hindu tradition.

With a strong understanding and commitment, it is hoped that the bride and groom will be able to build a harmonious and happy household.

Mepamit and Dharma asylum are cultural heritages that need to be preserved and meaning-maintained as markers of the sacred journey of marriage in Balinese Hindu traditions. So that by understanding the meaning and procession of the two, the bride and groom are expected to step to the level of marriage with full awareness and commitment, and are ready to build a harmonious and happy household.