Rumah Gadang at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah |
Rumah Gadang is a traditional house that reflects the whole aspects of Minangkabau philosophy.The construction of a house is subject to specific regulations, laid down by the ancestors and formalized in adat. The construction and maintenance of a rumah gadang is the responsibility of ninik mamak, the elder male blood-relatives of the matrilineal descent group that owns and builds it. With their matrilineal culture, Rumah Gadang in passed down from mother to daughter.
Not every inch of land in West Sumatra is eligible as a building site of Rumah Gadang. The traditional house is considered sacred, and can only be build in several districts which have earned high status called nagari. Initially, Rumah Gadang could not also be build outside Minangkabau, despite the custom of rantau of which the men have to travel far to earn their living. Hence, people of Minangkabau living outside West Sumatra have to periodically return to their homeland, with the money they have earned remitted for the sake of their Rumah Gadang.
The biggest Rumah Gadang is Istana Basa Pagaruyuang. Istana basa itself means big castle, and Pagaruyuang or Pagaruyung refers to an old kingdom in West Sumatera.
Istana Basa Pagaruyuang at night |
Rumah gadang is a long house, rectangular in plan. The house floor is set on wooden piles that can reach as high as 3 meters off the ground. It is largely constructed of wood, with an exception being the rear longitudinal wall which is a plain lattice bamboo woven. The roof is of a truss and cross-beam construction and is traditionally covered with thatch from the fiber of the sugar palm (ijuk).
Wooden walls, pillars, and ceilings of Rumah Gadang are embellished with colorful bas-relief carved wooden motifs that reflects their philosophy of alam takambang jadi guru (nature is our teacher).
There are 94 different motifs identified, of which 37 refer to flora, 28 refer to fauna, and 29 refer to humans and their activities or behavior.
Rumah Tenun Pusako Pandai Sikek |
- gonjong, hornlike roof structure
- singkok, triangular wall under the ends of gonjong
- pereng, shelf under the singkok
- anjuang, raised floor at the end of one style of rumah gadang
- dindiang ari, the walls on the side elevations
- dindiang tapi, the walls on the front and back elevations
- papan banyak, front facade
- papan sakapiang, a shelf or middle band on the periphery of the house
- salangko, wall enclosing space under a house that has been built on stilts
The pillars of the ideal Rumah Gadang are arranged in five rows which run the length of the house. These rows divide the interior into four long spaces called lanjar. The lanjar at the rear of the house is divided into bedrooms. Rumah Gadang must have odd numbers of room, with 5 as minimum number and 9 as the the ideal number. The other lanjar are used as a common area, called the labuah gajah (elephant road).
While each married woman gets to stay with her husband in a designated room, old women and children sleep in a big room near the kitchen. Young maidens sleep in a room on the other end of the house. Adolescent boys traditionally live in the surau, a small mosque built near Rumah Gadang.
Cooking and storage areas are often in separate buildings. A couple of rangkiang (rice barns) also placed in front of the house.
Rumah Gadang Sungai Baringin Payakumbuah |
Rumah Gadang at West Sumatra Pavillion - Taman Mini Indonesia Indah
Jl. Raya Taman Mini, Jakarta Timur, Jakarta Province (Phone: +62 21 87792078)
-6.3027755, 106.8946458
Istano Basa Pagaruyuang
Batusangkar, Tanah Datar Regency, West Sumatra Province
Batusangkar, Tanah Datar Regency, West Sumatra Province
-0.4711641, 100.6222638
Rumah Tenun Pusako Pandai Sikek