The takienta is the architectural signature of the Batammariba people and the heart of any visit to Tamberma. From outside, each compound resembles a small mud castle: a roughly cylindrical two-storey tower, four to six metres high, with conical thatched roofs poking up from above and a single narrow doorway at ground level. Inside, the layout is a deliberate cosmogram — animals and ground-floor sleeping quarters below, an upper terrace, granaries, and ancestor altars above.
Each compound is the home of an extended family. Construction uses only earth, water, straw, and wood — there are no nails, no concrete, no manufactured materials. Maintenance is constant; every few years the exterior is re-plastered against the rains. Village tours are arranged informally — typically through a guide met in Kande or Nadoba — and a small fee gives access to one or two compounds whose owners are willing to host visitors. Respect house rules: ask before photographing people or shrines.