Considered as the “roof of the jungle, “the communal house of Kon So Lăl has many spiritual meanings, where many cultural activities happen.
Located in the northeast of Gia Lai province, Ha Tay Commune (Chu Pah district) is one of the most culturally rich areas, where still preserves many traditional communal houses. One of them is Kon So Lăl, the largest communal house in the Central Highlands today in which the location is 50km from the center of Pleiku city, close to the territory of Kon Tum province.
The communal house is 320 m2 width, 20m height, bigger than the size of the communal house Kon Klor (Kon Tum), previously held the largest record in the Central Highlands.
This is a new communal house of Kon So Lăl village, replacing the old one burned down by lightning in 2015. To complete this project, the entire Kon So Lăl villagers took two years to prepare the material with about 4,000 construction days. By July 2017, the house with the village’s name was completed and put into use.
Wood, bamboo, thatched roof… were contributed entirely by the villagers. The communal house has no rafters; the frame is tied with rattan and bamboo. The roof is up to 20cm thick, tangled together like a giant ax blade. The inside ceiling is only interwoven with many trees, bamboo but still very stable and robust. The unique thing is that there is no need for a design drawing; the elder uses his eyes to look firmly based on the principle of symmetry and uses a wire to measure and mark the location.
On top of the stairs and the roof, the Bana people decorate with the shape of the fern vegetables and the sun, which means their desire to follow the god of the sun.
The 12 main pillars are made of oily tree trunks and vitex pubescens wood with the size of two adult arms. All of the same planks and bamboo were soaked in the mud of ponds and lakes for nearly two years to avoid termites.
In the culture and beliefs of the Central Highlands, the communal houses have a particularly important position. Like other villages, the Kon So Lăl communal house is the most sanctuary, has a spiritual meaning. Besides the house is where people hold cultural activities, celebrate New Year festivals, village festivals, gongs.
Kon So Lăl village has nearly 600 people of the Ba Na ethnic group, living in traditional stilted houses and earthen houses, surrounded the communal house.
Kon So Lăl was once the oldest Ba Na village in the Truong Son range, surrounded by thousands of mountains and forests. Later, to facilitate travel and development, the villagers moved outside, resettled in the new Kon So Lăl village, 3 km away from the old village, near the center of the commune, which is the location of the new communal house.
Nguyễn Chí Nam – https://vnexpress.net/nha-rong-lon-nhat-tay-nguyen-4082136.html
