Malay Magic: Being an introduction to the folklore and popular religion of the Malay PeninsulaSkeat, Walter William
Religion
Malay Magic: Being an introduction to the folklore and popular religion of the Malay Peninsula
Skeat, Walter William
Magic -- Malay Peninsula; Malays (Asian people) -- Folklore; Malays (Asian people) -- Social life and customs
The bride's hair is done up in a roll (sanggul) and this is surmounted
with a head-dress of artificial flowers (called g'rak gempa), cut
out of p'rada kresek ("crackling tinsel") and raised on fine wires;
her forehead is bound with a band or fillet of tinsel--gold-leaf
(p'rada Siam) being used by the rich--which is called tekan kundei,
and is carried round by the fringe of the hair (gigi rambut) down
to the top of each ear (pelipis) [619]; for the rest the bride is
clad in a "wedding jacket" (baju pengantin), which has tight-fitting
sleeves extending down to the wrist, or sleeves with gathers (simak)
over the arm, and which is generally made of "flowered satin" (siten
berbunga) in the case of the rich, or of cloth dyed red with kasumba
[620] (kain kasumba) in the case of the poorer classes. This "wedding
jacket" fits tightly round the neck, has a gold border (pendepun 'mas),
is fastened with two or three gold buttons, and fits closely to the
person; the wealthy add a necklace or crescent-shaped breast-ornament
(rantei merjan or dokoh) round the bride's neck. She also wears
bracelets (g'lang) and ear-rings (subang) and perhaps anklets,
of five different metals (keronchong panchalogam). A silk sarong,
which takes the place of a skirt, and is girt about the waist with
a waist-cord (but not usually, in Southern Selangor, fastened with
belt and buckle), and a pair of silk trousers, complete her attire.
The groom, on the other hand, is clad in his best jacket and
trousers, with the Malay skirt (sarong), fastened at the side,
and girt above the knee (kain kembang). His head is adorned with
the sigar, a peculiar head-dress of red cloth arranged turbanwise,
with a peak on the right-hand side, from which artificial flowers
(gunjei) depend, and which preserves its shape through being stuffed
with cotton-wool. Its border is decorated with tinsel, and it has a
gold fringe (kida-kida). Besides this head-dress the bridegroom has
a small bunch of artificial flowers (sunting-sunting) stuck behind
each ear, whilst two similar bunches are stuck in the head-dress
(one on the right and the other on the left).
Bridegrooms, however, who belong to the richer classes wear what is
called a lester (=destar?), whilst former Sultans of Selangor are
said to have worn a gold cap (songkok leleng), which is reputed to
have contained eighteen bongkal [621] (or bungkal) of gold.
The remainder of the company are of course merely dressed in their
best clothes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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