The Religious Values of the Traditional Ceremony in Building a Bengkulu Malay Traditional House

Abstract

Building a house is part of Bengkulu Malay customs. In the Malay culture, the process of building a house cannot be separated from traditional processions which contain traditional Bengkulu Malay religious values. This research examines the religious values of the traditional ceremony in building a Bengkulu Malay traditional house It employs a descriptive-qualitative method. Data collection techniques involve notetaking from documents and literature sourced from the museums and libraries in the Bengkulu province and Bengkulu University of Malaysia.The findings indicated reveal that traditional ceremonies related to building and occupying houses include a preparatory ceremony and building the house ceremony. The preparatory ceremony, which consists of selecting the land and cleaning the land mystically (disabo) is aimed at clearing the land from the mystical spirits in the form of jinn or others. The building house ceremony consists of getting into or the bubungan ceremony, and occupying/getting inside the house ceremony as a sign of gratitude.