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Beawiharta / Reuters
Kanjeng Pangeran Haryo Yudanegara and his wife Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Bendara wave to the crowd in a horse-drawn carriage in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, October 18, 2011. Yudanegara married Bendara, the youngest daughter of Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, on Tuesday after three days of continuous ceremonies.
Beawiharta / Reuters
Crowds gather to catch a glimpse of the royal couple as they rode through the streets in a horse-drawn carriage in Yogyakarta October 18, 2011.
Beawiharta / Reuters
Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Bendara washes Kanjeng Pangeran Haryo Yudanegara's foot while surrounded by royal guards during their wedding ceremony at gate of Yogyakarta Palace October 18, 2011.
Dwi Oblo / Reuters
Gusti Bendoro Pangeran Haryo Suryodiningrat, left, and his nephew Kanjeng Pangeran Haryo Yudanegara, right, hold up Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Bendara during the wedding ceremony at Yogyakarta Palace October 18, 2011.
A year of preparation and three days of pre-nuptial ceremonies finally ended in another royal wedding today in Indonesia. Large screen were set up for public viewing and 3,500 were expected to attend the reception. More from the Jakarta Globe.
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This kind of weddings is an insult to the people they rule.
It's a copy cat from England, trying to undo one another.
Wah, you mad cause your Las Vegas wedding by a cigarette smoking Elvis wasn't all that spectacular? It is their wedding, not yours, so quit whining.
pchemboy
I think ppk's point (aside from the aesthetics) is that this couple has this lavish wedding and live in luxury while the people they "serve" live in squander and poverty.
As far as the whole "washing the feet" thing ... I don't know. I was actually at a Christian wedding this weekend in which the preacher was reading scripture about how a wife should be submissive to the husband. So ... I guess all our cultures still have pretty archaic traditions we like to think are "modern and civilized."
All of these primitive ceremonies are designed to keep the serfs respectful of the privileges enjoyed by the undeserving "royalty."
But we do the same thing all the time.
I agree - all cultures have their archaic traditions. We have the "Bachelor" and the "Bachelorette". Millions of people watch these TV shows that are little more than propaganda made to make us think that the rich are somehow better than we are, and therefore they deserve to be treated differently. Some traditions are made to be broken.
Hey PPK, I think you meant outdo instead of undo... regardless, What you fail to understand is that with all the money they spent, hundreds of people have more money. Also, Chad, if a person who lives in squalor and poverty does not make them unhappy people. In other words, they don't know what they don't know. In other words, I'm happy for the happy couple and really I could care less. It has no effect on my life at all. I just wanted to see some pretty pictures and then stumbled onto the comments section. Ya'll have a nice day.
PPK are you 10 yrs old or just an culturally ignorant person who see's everything filtered through a "western" lens. Asian cultures are much, much older then Western ones (even Europe). Read up on the age of exploration will you? You know, how up-and-coming Western powers traveled to the EAST for silk, porcelain, spices, lacquer and other luxury commodities that didn't exist in the West. I bet you think pasta was an Italian invention except Marco Polo brought it over from China where it existed for a couple of thousand years. You could say, with strong factual backing, that it is the West who copied but frankly, why bring up that comparision...WHO CARES! People should be able to celebrate their weddings in their appropriate traditions as they wish. I for one am enjoying a glimpse into how other cultures celebrate weddings and would have been deeply disturbed if theirs looked anything like the UK royal wedding.
Yes - they should be more civilized, like spending billions of dollars on election campaigns when their people are out of work and starving.
Keep it in pespective people.
wayne
Dude ... are you serious?
Educate yourself. Have you never heard of the function of revolution?
I'm not saying this is a society that warrants it, I'm merely commenting on the unsustainable social positioning that many cultures find themselves in (including our own). The oppressed creature can be a wicked thing my friend.
ppk - you sound like you would agree with the occupy wall street protesters who don't think the corporate and banking elite should get all the money while most of us are supposed to know our place and are happy to have to work three jobs (while others have no job) because we "live in the land of the free."
ppk: you've got that backwards. Which would be older now. think.
WTF kind of headline is this?!
"How she knows the royal feet won't stink on their wedding night"
Really?
Has anyone ever seen the Eddie Murphy movie "Coming to America"?
That's what your comment reminded me of .... Ahh ... hilarious, a must see classic.
"The Royal penis is clean your higness"
You're right, Chad. It does kind of remind me of that. Funny! I'm just bewildered how somebody picked such an odd way to title this story's link. I mean, why not mention something about feminine itch while they're at it?
Just STRANGE.
What a prejudiced title. If Indonesian royalty has stinking feet, do those of royalties (i.e. freeloaders) from other parts of the world smell like french perfume?
Culturally it is exactly what the "public" expect and look forward to see. Disgruntled, uptight, narrow-minded, Westerners, get over yourselves. Their culture is is far older than ours, and does not need any criticism from blinders on critics such as you obviously are.
dont tell them that...first they have to take their medications,then a little sinks in.
No. The USA fortunately had a wonderful woman named Susan B. Anthony and the Suffragettes that broke down those barriers. I am happy to be a woman in the Western world. I find these traditions to be so misoginistic.
No. The USA fortunately had a wonderful woman named Susan B. Anthony and the Suffragettes that broke down those barriers. I am happy to be a woman in the Western world. I find these traditions to be so misogynistic.
Oh but because it is cultural then it makes it right.
Hey Virginia, what about the ladies of the Middle East?
Virginia - I don't like the misogyny in much of Western weddings such as giving away the bride, sermons about subservience, etc., but it's not my place to ruin the bride's day. Regardless, I don't think she needs your defense since Indonesia is one of the better places for women in some ways. For one they had a women leader a while back and a few of the cultures are centered around the promotion of "women traits" like peacefulness.
Wayne757
Hey, Wayne, why is half (probably more than half) of their population dressed in black bags??? What is the point? Traditions, gotta love 'em. LOL
I found the headline disrespectful. As if the whole wedding was about foot washing, give me a break. However, I think all the rest was quite beautiful, and the bride and groom were spectacular. Best wishes to them.
Javanese culture goes back several thousand years. Centuries past the Sultans were kings of their regions. However, today they are more like local magistrates or governors. I have been to the palace in Yogyakarta. Although very lovely, it is no where as opulent as the great royal palaces in Europe. It's rather run down actually, and the majority of it is maintained as a museum open to the public with modest living quarters for the sultan and his family.
The wedding costumes may look expensive, but this degree of ornamentation is actually are quite common for most all Javanese and Sundanese weddings, even for common classes. Usually they and the props are rented. The only ones who are suffering financially are the families of the bride and groom when the wedding bills come due!
Right, because we all know that if you wash your feet they won't stink anymore? Why do you think foot powders exist? Stupid headline about feet not stinking on the wedding night, agreed.
Wow..the same ritual that Mary Magdeline performed on Jesus in the bible. Couldn't it be possible that Jesus and Mary Magdeline were getting married and then had children? I certainly believe so. There are facts that supports this. Research if you dare.
I saw that movie too. The Davinci Code, Right?
Jesus also washed the feet of all his disciples - it was a common courtesy to wash the feet of a guest when they arrived in your house, because they walked everywhere they went, always in sandals, often on hot dusty roads. The sinful woman who washed Jesus feet is not named in the Bible. No doubt Mary Magdalene was not the only sinful woman who was a follower of Jesus. Here are some more examples of feet-washing as a gesture of hospitality recorded in the Bible: Ge 19:1, 2; 24:29-32; 1Sa 25:41; Lu 7:38, 44; 1Ti 5:10. The only "facts" I've ever heard of concerning Jesus marrying Mary Magdalene or anyone else, came from modern-day fiction OR from the apocrypha. The apocrypha are so unconnected to the Bible that they easily eliminated themselves from the canon.
If you dont clean your feet, you can't have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don't clean your feet!?
LOL!!! Wonder how many people will actually "get" that???
CFarinha:
That was classic!!!!!!!!! LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...to cherish and obey, to have and to hold my partner's feet....
I'm glad msnbc decided to change the title for this article. The previous title was in very, very bad taste. Instead of applauding and celebrating a country that has managed to keep it traditions and cultures alive through many centuries, they came up with title like "How she knows the royal feet won't stink on their wedding night". Ridiculous.
...wait till you see what she'll be washing later.......
By god this is there culture and has been for hundreds of years...
Who designed the outfits of the brides maids?
Vera Whang.
I wonder if he gets down on his hands and knees to wash her feet.
Looks like I missed the offensive headline.
They ought to make that bride washing the fiance's feet thing an American custom.
MSNBC should fire the person who post the previous title
"How she knows the royal feet won't stink on their wedding night"
Show some respect to other culture...
What an insult to women in this world. This feet washing should be a tradition that is long over due getting rid of.
If he had washed her feet at the same time as a sign of respect to his bride and her rights as a human being then it would have been worthy of a front page news story.
Other wise it should have read: "Slavery is alive and well for women of this kingdom."
Get over it already, it's there custom. If they don't have a problem with it then why do you?
Because American wedding customs are soooo much more respectful. I went to a wedding not more than a month ago in the NE US where they had the groom crawl on his hands and over 15 feet across a dance floor to take the guarder off of the bride.
I question why she's washing his feet with a stick
Its a stick with a coconut shell for her to pour water that is mixed with fresh flower petals...
It's a stick she will use on his head if he does not do the dishes.
I know it is all an opulent and stylized gala event. But JMHI, her body language speaks volumes. A cursory glance at some photos makes me think she's trying to keep as much distance from her prince as she can.
read the article again. She's the royal one.
try Denerex- feet probably stinks
Who are we to cast the first stone? Did it ever occur to anyone that she may enjoy doing this little custom, as part of the ritual of marriage, for someone she loves? It doesn't mean that it's part of their everyday life. And, then again, maybe it is. Back to my original sentence, who are we to judge?