Marae

Marae

A marae (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian) malaʻe (in Tongan), malae (in Samoan and Hawaiian) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the word also means "cleared, free of weeds, trees, etc." It generally consists of an area of cleared land roughly rectangular (the marae itself), bordered with stones or wooden posts (called au in Tahitian and Cook Islands Māori) perhaps with terraces (paepae) which were traditionally used for ceremonial purposes; and in some cases, a central stone ahu or a'u. In the Rapanui culture of Easter Island "ahu" has become a synonym for the whole marae complex).

Read more about Marae.