Laz/Chan Wedding and wedding Rituals (According to Folklore-Ethnographic and Literary Sources)

Abstract

In every people of the world, especially those, where the traditional culture was inseparable part of the life, wedding was an important event for the families and for the whole community. The history of the world and the entire ethnographic kaleidoscope is determined by the three main stages of the human life cycle, those are: birth, wedding, death. From those three, in history of mankind, marriage and family played a crucial role in biological reproduction of people and their socialization, in the transmission of culture.

The marriage and wedding traditions of Laz/Chan people is rooted from the Kartvelian-Iberian and Kolkhetian people, where it was called Chanda. Chanda was a structured social institute and had reflected not only at the level of ethnographic existence, but also in folklore. Many of the Laz/Chans poems were composed and related to the marriage and wedding ceremonies.

Parents prepared children for their future marriages. This was a solid foundation for maintaining and strengthening family traditions. The relatives from both sides started to talk about marriage with the children at their gender-appropriated age, when young people were considered physically and morally mature for sexual relations and the environment was economically ready. Married man was considered as a full-fledged member of a society and he was actively involved in the social life at the community.

Lazes/Chans marriage – Chanda and wedding was multi-stage ceremony process. It started with selection of appropriate couple. After the agreement was reached between the families, ensuring engagement, the wedding ceremony had come.