Skip to main content

"Rumah Gadang", The Big House in West Sumatra of Indonesia

Minangkabau society (one of the tribes in Sumatra), living in a social order in the form of a large family (paruik) derived from a matrilineal descent, where every single descendant of a family headed by a grandmother (mamak). Every family has their own big house, where family activities take place inside the party is dominated by women. Who occupy these gadang Houses are women and children, while the boys stayed in the mosque to learn to recite and study.
Minangkabau society with its Minangkabau culture has 3 important elements:

1. Idealism (containing the values or norms)
2. Patterned behavior (ceremonial ritual)
3. Physical manifestation

Minangkabau architecture is one of physical manifestation, can not be separated from the social culture. The most prominent architectural shape was the House and the Mosque. Public house called the Gadang House as the residence of a large family. Activities conducted within a cultural pattern and procedure adopted for socialization. Minangkabau people living within natural idealism called takambang be a teacher (a teacher of Natural lie), wherein the silver lining in this can be absorbed as an example to behave in a civilized and daily lifes.

Traditional architecture of ordinary people are often known as Bagonjong architecture, where the roof is arched and his body sagged in the middle. Indeed this form is widely used as a form of Minangkabau architecture, but actually still has lots of ornaments based on its type.


Gadang Houses are said sieve (large) not because of its great physique, but because its function. In Minangkabau song or speech also described the house functions as a sieve which include the following.

Rumah gadang basa batuah, Tiang banamo kato hakikaik, Pintunyo basamo dalia kiasannya, Banduanyo sambah-manyambah, Bajanjang naiak batanggo turun, Dindiangnyo panutuik malu, Biliaknyo aluang bunian.

which means roughly as follows:
Rumah Gadang is a big house ,
Its pole (or column) said the nature,
The big door said a metaphor,
Its roof like doing worship
Has declined and climbed the stairs
The walls are closing shame,
Its sectional rooms for occupancy.

House thus have a role and many functions. Aside from being a family residence, the house of gadang functions as a symbol of the community presence and as a center of life and harmony, as a place where they made an agreement and implement the various ceremonies. Even as well as a place to care for sick family members.

As a place to live together, big houses have separate provisions. Every woman who married get a room. The youngest women obtain the most far rooms. In turn he will move to center if a girl get a husband as well. Old women and children obtain a place in a room near the kitchen. While teenage girls shared a room at the other end. While the old man, a widower, and single bed in his nation's surau respectively. Placement of new couples in the same most far room, as the busy atmosphere do not interfere them in the house. Similarly, placing an old woman and children in a room near the kitchen is due to his physical condition that needs to get off ride home at night.

As a place for getting an agreement, Gadang House is building the center of all members in discussing their problems together.

A place for conducting the ceremony, the Gadang House is important in putting in place the level of their dignity it deserves. That's where the coronation of the prince done. That's where the center of the banquet is important for various purposes in dealing with others and where the prince awaits guests who they respect.

As a place of caring for families, large homes also play a role as a hospital for every man who becomes their family. A man who almost die would be to be brought to the big house or the house where she was born. And the house that he would be released into cemetery when he died. This will be very beneficial, if the man has more than one wife, so will preventing disputesbetween his wives.

Therefore traditionally Gadang House inhabited by grandmother, mother and daughters. If the house had a narrow, other houses will be built next to it. If the house was not accommodate those occupants and also not Gadang House, then located in other places who do not row with a big house.

Well ..., now we know its function very much, of course we could understand inhabited by many peoples, even in total more than 100 peoples. It's a very big house instead?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"RUMAH BETANG" The Long House of the Dayak, Borneo

In the past, the life of the Dayak tribes who resided inland of Borneo that live in groups, where they must lived and passed along, it was embodied in a architecture work that is, Huma Betang Betang has a unique characteristics that can be observed from the elongated shape and there was only a staircase and the entrance to the Betang . That staircase as a means of connecting to the Betang called hejot . Betang was built high from the ground surface to avoid the things that bother the residents of Betang , such as avoiding the enemy that can come suddenly, the beast, or the flooding that sometimes swept them. Almost all Betang can be found on the by of big rivers in Borneo (Kalimantan). Betang built typically large, can reach 30-150 feet in length and width can reach about 10-30 feet, has a pole of about 3-5 meters high. Betang built using high quality wood materials, namely ironwood (Eusideroxylon zwagerí T et B), in addition to having the strength to stand up to hundreds of yea...

Earthquake Resistance Construction from Megalithic Era in Nias, Indonesia

There is example of earthquake resistant building in the megalithic era. That examples exist in Nias, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Vernacular houses in Nias was not responding when rocked. Wisely designed with the principles of earthquake resistant. At the columns foot of the building are divided into two types, namely the main structural columns that stand in an upright position and the column amplifier located in a position intersecting to form the letter X in italics. Wooden blocks or large stones deliberately placed on the sidelines of the column amplifier as a weight to keep the building from the wind. While the top end of upright columns connected by beams buffer through a connection peg system which was then carrying beams on top floors. Diagonal columns, with no beginning and no end point, intertwine to prop up the oval plan building with a cantilevered surrounds the entire side of the floor plan. Like a belt, a series of beams placed lengthwise around the body of the building. On...

Tradition and Process of BATIK

Batik Technology is a fabric processing technology by providing a variety of design motifs and colors on the cloth. Batik in Java technology is an example of successful technological innovations imported into the traditional technology. Originally making a batik is not a form of handicraft industry but the usual household of women in urban areas. In the past, batik is usually done at home magnifying Javanese nobility. Main equipment Batik Basic tools for batik is canting which is principally used for painting. The tool is determining the criteria of a work  called mbatik . Canting is made of copper which has a tank parts (for a wax liquid) and the hollow channel (kingfisher) with various sizes and number of holes (cucuk ) the size to determine points, or lines will be painted. Canting fusuh example is a coarse cloth wrapped the hole which serves to cover the small blocks. Other equipment is stove to heat a pan of wax liquid, gawangan to spread cloth, or large brush (jegol...