Wooden drum, called "Keluoke" in Wa language, is a traditional sacrifice offering tool, musical instrument and alarm reporting tool. Trunk of Schima wallichii,peach tree or Mali tree is raw materials for the drum which is hollowed out according to specified shapes. The sizes of different drums are varied, and the drum is usually 2 meters long with a diameter of between 0.5 and 1 meter. There are two kinds of drums: male drum and female drum. The syllable of male drum is on the low side and the tone color of it is loud and jarring. The syllable of female drum is a little bit higher, and the tone color is clear and melodious. They are generally put together in the wooden drum house in the village.
The wooden drum house is an important and symbolic structure in the Wa village. There are one or several wooden houses in every village. It is a small shed constructed with six poles, three crossbeams and bamboo strips or cogon grass which has no wall. The area of the drum house is not big, and the structure is simple, but because it's the place for leaving wooden drum, it's very holy and it possesses the function and status of temples of other nationalities.
The wooden drum is a symbol of the Was, and is a holy object worshipped by them. They think that the wooden drum is "a tool reaching gods" and "a drum reaching heaven", and "life relies on water, and proper relies on wooden drum". So it can't be touched in normal times, and people can beat it only in offering sacrifice, reporting an alarm and in great collective activities such as festivals and happy occasions.
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