--- title: "Poruwa Ceremony Highlight Video Editing | WeddingEditor" url: https://www.weddingeditor.ai/wedding-video/sri-lankan/poruwa/ last_updated: 2026-10-12 --- # A poruwa ceremony highlight, made from the footage you filmed The poruwa ceremony is the traditional Sinhala wedding ceremony, held on a poruwa, a decorated wooden platform often hung with flowers and white cloth. In many families the couple step onto it at a nakath set by an astrologer, verses such as the ashtaka are recited, girls sing the Jayamangala Gatha, and an elder ties the couple's little fingers together with a thread and pours water over them. To get a highlight of it, upload the poruwa footage as its own WeddingEditor project, list the moments and people in the preference questions, and WeddingEditor's AI editing makes a Highlight Reel of about 5 minutes or a Social Teaser. Practice differs from family to family. Check the order with the family or the person conducting the ceremony before the day. [Start your first wedding](https://app.weddingeditor.ai/sign-up?redirect_url=/dashboard) ## How to get a highlight of the poruwa ceremony 1. **Upload the poruwa as its own project** Create a project for the ceremony alone and upload its files from every camera: the procession to the platform, the steps up, the rituals, the blessings. The reception and the going away can be a different project. No sorting or renaming is needed first. 2. **List the rituals and the people** Write the moments in the order they happened, and name the people involved: the parents, the elder who tied the thread and poured the water, the person reciting the ashtaka, the girls who sang. Choose "More speeches & voices" if the recitation and singing should be heard. 3. **Receive the highlight** Once you buy One Wedding or spend a credit, the poruwa edit typically takes 24 to 72 hours. The edit then reaches your project. Download the 1080p MP4, and email up to two rounds of notes if something needs to change. ## Moments of the poruwa ceremony to list Put the ones that happened into the moments question, in order. - **The walk to the poruwa**: The couple led to the platform, often by drummers or dancers and by the person conducting the ceremony, with the families close behind. - **Stepping up at the nakath**: The couple stepping onto the poruwa together at the auspicious time, in many families right foot first. - **Betel leaves**: In many families the couple offer sheaves of betel leaves as a gesture of respect, and the groom later offers betel to the elders. - **The tied fingers and the water**: The couple's little fingers tied with a thread, and water poured over them from a small pot, a sign that the bond is made. The person who does this varies by family. - **Jayamangala Gatha**: A group of girls, often dressed in white, singing the verses of blessing while the ceremony continues. - **Gifts and stepping down**: In many families the groom gives the bride's mother a white cloth in thanks, the couple feed each other, and then they step down from the poruwa together. ## What happens at a poruwa ceremony, in order A common shape, not a script. The order and the details vary between families and regions. - **1. The procession and the nakath**: The couple are led to the poruwa, often after a welcome by drummers or dancers. They step onto it at the nakath, the auspicious time the family's astrologer has chosen. - **2. Offerings and recitation**: Betel leaves are offered in many families, and the person conducting the ceremony recites verses such as the ashtaka, blessing the couple. Rice, flowers or other symbolic items may be placed on the poruwa. - **3. The binding**: An elder, or the person conducting the ceremony, ties the couple's little fingers together with a thread and pours water over their joined hands. The girls' singing of the Jayamangala Gatha often comes at this stage. - **4. Gifts and stepping down**: Gifts follow, such as a necklace for the bride and, in many families, a white cloth from the groom to the bride's mother. The couple often feed each other, then step down together, and in some families the oil lamp is lit. - **A highlight, not the full ceremony**: The poruwa ceremony with its recitation and singing runs much longer than the edit. WeddingEditor makes a Highlight Reel of about 5 minutes or a Social Teaser from it; if the family wants the complete ceremony, cut that yourself. - **The recitation and the singing**: The edit uses the ashtaka and the Jayamangala Gatha as your microphones recorded them, with music only in support, so how clearly they come through depends on your audio. ## Parts of the poruwa ceremony and what to write in the preferences | Part of the ceremony | What it looks or sounds like | What to note in the preferences | |---|---|---| | Procession | Drummers or dancers, the couple led toward the platform | "Bride in a white osariya, groom in Kandyan dress." | | Stepping up | The couple step onto the flower-decked poruwa together | "Must include the step up at the nakath." | | Betel and recitation | Betel leaves offered; the ashtaka recited | "Keep a short part of the ashtaka audible." | | Tied fingers and water | Thread around the little fingers, water poured from a small pot | "Close on the hands, then both faces." | | Jayamangala Gatha | Girls in white singing together | "Feature the girls; the bride's niece is second from the left." | | Gifts and stepping down | Necklace, the white cloth to the bride's mother, the couple stepping off | "Keep the white cloth given to her mother." | ## What is the poruwa ceremony? The poruwa ceremony is the traditional Sinhala wedding ceremony, in which the couple stand on a decorated platform, the poruwa, while verses are recited, their little fingers are tied and water is poured to seal the marriage. A poruwa highlight is a short edit that keeps those moments in order, made from the ceremony footage you upload. Not the same as: It is a cultural ceremony rather than a Buddhist religious rite, and it differs from the Tamil Hindu ceremony, where the thaali is tied at the muhurtham. It is also not the homecoming, which comes days later. ## Poruwa ceremony video questions ### Can I get a highlight of just the poruwa ceremony? Yes. Create a project for the ceremony and upload only its footage. It returns its own Highlight Reel or Social Teaser, separate from the reception or the homecoming. ### Will WeddingEditor know the order of the poruwa rituals? Do not rely on that. Write the order in the moments question, since families and those conducting the ceremony do things differently. WeddingEditor follows what you describe. ### Can the Jayamangala Gatha be heard in the highlight? Yes, if your microphones caught it. Name it in the speeches and voices question and say how much you want. The edit keeps your recorded sound and sets music beside it by your audio preference. ### Who tied the fingers? WeddingEditor will not know. Say so in the people question: the person's relationship to the couple, what they wore and roughly when the binding happened. That is how the edit finds them in your footage. ### Can I ask for parts of the ceremony to be left out? Yes. Use the avoid question, for example for a long pause while the platform was rearranged, or for anything the family asked not to be shown. ### What does a poruwa ceremony highlight cost? As its own project, the poruwa uses one purchase, One Wedding at $119 one-time for one wedding, or one plan credit. Processing typically takes 24 to 72 hours from when you start it, and there is no guaranteed turnaround. ## More for Sri Lankan weddings - [Sri Lankan wedding video editing](https://www.weddingeditor.ai/wedding-video/sri-lankan/): Every tradition and event, and how to brief it - [Sri Lankan homecoming highlight](https://www.weddingeditor.ai/wedding-video/sri-lankan/homecoming/): The celebration hosted by the groom's family - [Sri Lankan wedding highlight](https://www.weddingeditor.ai/wedding-video/sri-lankan/highlight/): The whole wedding in about 5 minutes - [Sri Lankan wedding teaser](https://www.weddingeditor.ai/wedding-video/sri-lankan/teaser/): A short teaser of the wedding - [All cultures](https://www.weddingeditor.ai/wedding-video/cultures/) ## Keep the tied fingers and the water, in the order they happened Create your account, upload the poruwa ceremony as its own project, and list the moments that matter to the family. 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