Lengge

Lengge

Lengge is the traditional house of Wawo people. It is the two-floored house which is made of wood and bamboo structure. Long time ago, the lower floor was used to accept guests, while the upper one functioned as the living room.


Lengge is built  in pointed roof. The roof is made of ndolo (tall sharp grass). The roof is made in such a kind of shape because Wawo district is relatively close to the volcanoes; Tambora and Sangiang. It is intended to avoid volcanic ash remaining on the roof during the mounts eruption. The roof also functions as the wall.

On the other hand, Lengge is strengthened by four strong wooden pillars. The pillars help the owner from the attack of wild animals, or another natural disaster like earthquake. Lengge is built heading to west, which is the direction of Wawo people in praying. It tells us how deep the understanding of Wawo people in religious affairs.

Along with the development of science and technology, Lengge is no longer used as the house to live in. It is used to store the crops only, whereas the owners live permanently in kampoong. In relation to this, Wawo people have two main reason.

1. It is to minimize the lost when fire happens. When their houses are on fire, they still have crops they store in Lengge. On the contrary, when Lengge is on fire, they still have other belongings they store in their house in Kampoong.
2. It is intended to educate people to live in thrift live. There has been a consensus among Wawo people that crops in Lengge are simply taken once a week. Those who take the crops more than once a week are considered as the wasteful persons.

Today, Lengge is not only the house to store crops like rice or corns but also the tourism destination visited by either local people or foreigners, like Australian, American, and many others. Various traditional dances are performed here to welcome tourists, like mpa'a manca, ntumbu, buja kadanda, and many others.