13/01/2024
Colours, Joy, Benevolence and Good Omen.
The Himalayan Highlands in winter, the land is resting and everything is on pause.
The elderly prepare for their children's weddings around the fireplace, and begin a lively and joyful wedding season.
Tuoqing (a former colleague of mine) is neatly dressed, dressed in a beautiful Chuba and a golden flowered hat from "Tsering Golden Fruit". He stands at the door of his small courtyard to welcome the endless stream of guests.
According to village custom, the groom usually wears a "gawu" on his chest, a traditional amulet inlaid with gold, silver, jade, etc., and inside is a Buddha image or holy scriptures.
Local weddings tend to avoid the farming season and Matsutake mushroom season and focus on winter when everyone is free.
In the village, the whole family helps each other when there is a happy event, which also represents the self-help lifestyle of the Tibetan community. There are 44 families in the village where Tuoqing's family is located and each family will send one or two people to help, whether they are close to them or not.
The first day of the wedding is devoted to dividing up the work between relatives and neighbors. Everything is arranged in advance and everyone does their homework, buying, killing the pigs and preparing the vegetables and various dishes in an orderly manner. The banquet consists of nine courses and a soup.
The wedding banquet includes a dozen tables, which are quickly straightened after the departure of guests to organize a rotation of about fifty tables in total.
The final stage of the wedding is the procession to "Divine Mountain". they go there to simmer blackberries and then bring back leaves of green and orange winter colors, which symbolizes that from that day on, Tuoqing will be integrated into his new family under the protection of the sacred mountain.
Best wishes.
