The word Zangala refers to the beautiful, large heart of the typical Dagara compound.  This structure is home to most of what the Dagara hold dear and sacred.  It is the spiritual heart of any home. In the hot season the Zangala is also dark and cool and to step inside one is to enter a magical and ancient place deep in the heart of the earth. (above Kate Falk Bockley pictured in a Zangala)

Typically long and rectangular, these massive mudbrick structures are supported by centuries old tree trunks polished smooth by countless hands and darkened by the smoke of endless cooking fires.  Opposite the door, at the far end of the Zangala burns the principal indoor cooking fire, and right behind it looms a huge granary (the mother granary) that holds the seed that is used mainly for planting each year.  Women and children sleep here in the rainy season and millet beer is often brewed here in ancient clay jars 4-5 feet tall. These granaries can be 20-30 feet in circumference and their tops stick out onto the room of the Zangala some 12-15 feet high.  The roof is also a lively place, used for drying food and hosting ceremonies that can accommodate 40-50 dancing people.