Buddhist wedding in Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka

Traditional decoration, poruwa wooden platform, coconut cutting, wedding kitesurfing and music and dancing

My husband and I got officially married in 2019 in our home country in Europe in a normal western style Christian wedding ceremony. However we consider Sri Lanka as our second homeland and we decided to honour our marriage also with a Buddhist ceremony in Kalpitiya. We are very much fascinated by Buddhist philosophy and traditions. And of course at Surfpoint Sri Lanka you can have your own Buddhist wedding with all the nice traditions you want. The Surfpoint Sri Lanka staff ordered all the necessary things to ensure we have everything for an authentic experience. At Surfpoint Village the day started with constructing the traditional Poruwa, which is a wooden platform. The poruwa represents the house that the couple will share and is symbolic of their marriage and the start of a new life.

Building the Poruwa

The platform was then built up right in the Kalpitiya Lagoon which is the main kitesurfing spot in Kalpitiya. A Buddhist monk celebrated the ceremony and Just like in every wedding, the couple’s outfit is very important. I was wearing a saree while my husband wore a sarong.

I couldn’t have imagined a nicer wedding spot.

Standing on the poruwa platform, our symbolic house

At the end of the ceremony the newly married couple steps down the traditional Poruwa, this is the point of breaking a fresh coconut. This signifies the new beginning, while dancers start to sing and dance to announce to the world that the couple from now on officially is husband and wife.

The moment of breaking the coconut.

But of course a kite surfer’s wedding is not a proper wedding without really making a wedding ride. So my husband and I changed our clothes and hopped on our boards with balloons.