WATCH: An elaborate wedding ritual by an Indonesian tribe

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The Mandailing of North Sumatera, one of hundreds of Indonesian indigenous tribes, has elaborate wedding rituals.

On July 30, one such wedding ceremony took place at the house of human rights lawyer and activist Todung Mulya Lubis. His son, Tondi Nikita Lubis, was getting married to Javanese woman Yurika Andari.

There were three sets of rituals that were conducted by the Lubis family for their children. The first one is called the ‘Mangalehan Marga Nasution,’ a ritual through which Yurika, who is from a different tribe, is given a Mandailing last name and inducted into the Nasution clan.

After officially becoming a Nasution, Yurika and her husband Tondi take part in the traditional ‘Mangalo-alo Boru’ and ‘Martahi Godang’ rituals. The bride and groom are received by the Lubis extended family and give thanks for the wedding ceremony.

The rituals were accompanied by traditional music from traditional Mandailing drums. The bride and groom and their families also expressed their happiness and thankfulness by taking part in a traditional ‘tor-tor’ dance together.

“We need to do more of these types of traditional events, to preserve the wisdom and values that have been passed down by our ancestors,” said Todung Lubis.

Watch clips from the traditional Mandailing wedding ceremony in the video above. —Rappler.com