Ethnic minority tomb house showcased

A replica of the tomb house for the dead typical of the Co Tu ethnic minority group in the central region has been unveiled at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi.

36-year-old Briu Nga, a Co Tu from Elieng Hamlet in Quang Nam Province, has completed the house for six months. The replica was mainly based on a model of the tomb which Nga built for his father-in-law who died in 1996. It consists of a stretcher for carrying the dead, a coffin, and a shelf to hold worshipping offerings. The house, which is made entirely of wood, is 2.55m tall, 4.85m long and 3.25m wide and can accommodate four to five remains of the deceased.

Under Co Tu customs, the tomb house is built on the grave of the dead person one year after he or she was buried. This is always a solemn ceremony, with buffalos killed for offerings in the presence of crowds of villagers. The bigger the house is and the more beautifully the house is decorated, the higher position the dead held when alive and the more dutiful towards the parent the children are, according to Co Tu customs.

The Co Tu community has a population of almost 50,000 mostly in Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue provinces. They bury their dead close to one another in the village cemetery, build a funeral house on the grave and put many wooden statues around it.

(Source: VOV)