Batak Script

Aksara Batak

The development of traditional culture Nusantara experiencing an increasingly competitive challenges of the cultures of other countries. This is an indication of the need for an innovative breakthrough to boost the return of traditional cultural values ​​that slumped to a more reasonable in view of modern society. 

One of the characters that need special attention are the endangered Batak script associated with limited sources of data and information. In contrast to the literature and culture of Java is quite exist, Batak script is still very minimal understood by the public. Even most of the Batak people themselves are unaware of the Batak script.


Factors that cause the extinction of traditional Batak script writing, among others:

1. Most of the Batak literature was never written. Folklore in the form of fables, myths and legends, for instance, and umpasa, torhan-torhanan, turiturian, huling-hulingan all derived only orally from generation to generation.
2. Introduction of Islam and Christianity to the Batak lands, who hated products pustaha the datu who are considered "objects of infidelity" resulting in the emergence of mass destruction. As a result, since 1852 has been endangered pustaha.
3. Batak pustaha remaining extant collections stored in museums or libraries abroad, especially the Netherlands and Germany, and a small part in the National Library of Jakarta. 

Batak pustaha remaining extant collections stored in museums or libraries abroad, especially the Netherlands and Germany, and a small part in the National Library of Jakarta.

In today's modern era of communications media are most effective global write is Latin letters. The fact is the basis for adaptation efforts Batak alphabet characters into Latin letters, as a good solution in terms of functionality, efficiency and benefits that can be accepted by society. These factors are important, given the script in terms of communication are no longer needed.

The ultimate objective of the research process is the production design character script Latin letters archipelago, with a focus Toba Batak script, which makes the Batak script is easily accessible and known character by the tribes and other nations around the world, including the Batak society itself. Thus, the Latin letters alphabet character of this archipelago can function as a mediator of socialization Batak visual literacy with the level of effectiveness is equivalent to the Latin letters and the rate of spread of a global standard.

Letter Pattern Design Process

As written communication media, letters have significant differences with Latin letters, especially in terms of visual and technical readings. Differentiator in terms of visuals such as proportions, visual character, the anatomy of letters, and the construction geometry. Variants from a technical point of reading is included in the Batak script script type silabik, the script describing the syllable (a-ha-ma-na-ra), while Latin letters included in this type of phonetic alphabet which is kind of script in the form of phoneme symbol (ab-CDE ). On the basis of these differences, then the process of adaptation characters require some form of basic pattern of letters that became a meeting point between Toba Batak alphabet characters with Latin characters.

Urutan Aksara Batak Toba (Ina ni surat)

 

Tortor Batak

Ulos & Weaving

Ulos or we can say muffler of Batak, it's weaving, used in ceremony of Batak or using daily. Ulos have three color's black, red and white. Ulos have motif and color is different it have means for using the color's and the motif.

 In ceremony of Batak, what kind ceremony ? Prepare Ulos that you using must be befit with the ceremony.
Mostly women do weaving, with using traditional weaving equipment.

 Carve and Chisel Art Part of Sopo, Solu (Small Boat), ornament and other is sample of wood carve and chisel Art Batak. Carve and chisel art used three color's black, red, white make unique Batak carve and chisel.

Batak's Language

Batak House: source wikipedia

Batak speak a variety of closely related languages, all members of the Austronesian language family. There are two major branches, a northern branch comprising the Pakpak-Dairi, Alas-Kluet and Karo languages that are similar to each other but distinctly different from the languages of the southern branch comprising three mutually intelligible dialects: Toba, Angkola and Mandailing. Simalungun is an early offspring of the southern branch. Some Simalungun dialects can be understood by speakers of Batak Karo whereas other dialects of Simalungun can be understood by speakers of Toba. This is due to the existence of a linguistic continuum that often blurs the lines between the Batak dialects.

The Batak possess their own script known as the Surat Batak. The writing has chiefly ceremonial importance within traditional religious ceremonies, and was subject to little change for this reason. It is likely that the Batak people received their writing system from southern Sumatra.

Ritual cannibalism

Source: Wikipedia: Judgement Place of Toba Batak

Ritual cannibalism is well documented among Batak people, performed in order to strengthen the eater's tendi. In particular, the blood, heart, palms and soles of the feet were seen as rich in tendi.

In Marco Polo’s memoirs of his stay on the east coast of Sumatra (then called Java Minor) from April to September of 1292, he mentions an encounter with hill folk whom he refers to as “man-eaters”. From secondary sources, Marco Polo recorded stories of ritual cannibalism among the "Battas".

Marco Polo's stay was restricted to the coastal areas, and he never ventured inland to directly verify such claims. Despite never personally witnessing these events, he was nonetheless willing to pass on descriptions which were provided to him, in which a condemned man was eaten:

"They suffocate him. And when he is dead they have him cooked, and gather together all the dead man's kin, and eat him. And I assure you they do suck the very bones till not a particle of marrow remains in them...And so they eat him up stump and rump.

And when they have thus eaten him they collect his bones and put them in fine chests, and carry them away, and place them in caverns among the mountains where no beast nor other creature can get at them. And you must know also that if they take prisoner a man of another country, and he cannot pay a ransom in coin, they kill him and eat him straightway.

The Venetian Niccolò de' Conti (1395–1469) spent most of 1421 in Sumatra in the course of a long trading journey to Southeast Asia (1414–1439), and wrote a brief description of the inhabitants: "In a part of the island called Batech live cannibals who wage continual war on their neighbors.".
Judgement Place of Toba Batak
Batak warriors, 1870.

Source: wikipedia/Batak warriors, 1870.

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles in the 1820s studied the Batak and their rituals and laws regarding the consumption of human flesh, writing in detail about the transgressions that warranted such an act as well as their methods. Raffles stated that "It is usual for the people to eat their parents when too old to work," and that for certain crimes a criminal would be eaten alive: “The flesh is eaten raw or grilled, with lime, salt and a little rice.”.

The German physician and geographer Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn visited the Batak lands in 1840-41. Junghuhn says about cannibalism among the Batak (whom he called "Battaer"):

“People do the honest Battaer an injustice when it is said that they sell human flesh in the markets, and that they slaughter their old people as soon as they are unfit for work...They eat human flesh only in wartime, when they are enraged, and in a few legal instances.”

Junghuhn tells how after a perilous and hungry flight he arrived in a friendly village, and the food that was offered by his hosts was the flesh of two prisoners who had been slaughtered the day before,however he maintains that the Batak exaggerated their love of human flesh in order to frighten off would-be invaders and to gain occasional employment as mercenaries for the coastal tribes who were plagued by pirates .

Oscar von Kessel visited Silindung in the 1840s and in 1844 was probably the first European to observe a Batak cannibalistic ritual in which a convicted adulterer was eaten alive.

Interestingly, his description parallels that of Marsden in some important respects, however von Kessel states that cannibalism was regarded by the Batak as a judicial act and its application was restricted to very narrowly defined infringements of the law including theft, adultery, spying or treason. Salt, red pepper and lemons had to be provided by the relatives of the victim as a sign that they accepted the verdict of the community and were not thinking of revenge.

Ida Laura Pfeiffer visited the Batak in August 1852 and although she did not observe any cannibalism, she was told that:

"Prisoners of war are tied to a tree and beheaded at once; but the blood is carefully preserved for drinking, and sometimes made into a kind of pudding with boiled rice. The body is then distributed; the ears, the nose, and the soles of the feet are the exclusive property of the Rajah, who has besides a claim on other portions.

The palms of the hands, the soles of the feet, the flesh of the head, and the heart and liver, are reckoned peculiar delicacies, and the flesh in general is roasted and eaten with salt. The Regents assured me, with a certain air of relish, that it was very good food, and that they had not the least objection to eat it. The women are not allowed to take part in these grand public dinners."

Dutch and German missionaries to the Batak in the late 19th century observed a few instances of cannibalism and wrote lurid descriptions to their home parishes in order to raise donations. The growing Dutch influence in northern Sumatra led to increased Malay influence in coastal trade and plantations, pushing the Karo farther inland. Growing ethnics tensions culminated in the 1872 Karo Rebellion where the Karo were suppressed by Dutch and Malay forces.

Despite this, Karo resistance to Dutch imperialism lingered into the early twentieth century.  In 1890 the Dutch colonial government banned cannibalism in the regions under their control.[18] Rumors of Batak cannibalism survived into the early 20th century but it seems probable that the custom was rare after 1816, due partially to the influence of Islam.

BATAK (INDONESIA)

Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The term is used to include the Toba, Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Angkola and Mandailing, each of which are distinct but related groups with distinct, albeit related, languages and customs (adat). Occasionally it is also used to include the Alas people of Central/Southern Aceh, but usually only as relates to language groups.

In North Sumatra, Toba people typically assert their identity as 'Batak', while other 'Bataks' may explicitly reject that label, preferring instead to identify as specifically 'Simalungun', 'Karo', etc

Container for Magical Substances (Naga Morsarang)

Container for Magical Substances

Container for Magical Substances (Naga Morsarang), 19th–early 20th century
Toba Batak people, Sumatra, Indonesia
Water buffalo horn, wood

L. 20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm)
Gift of Fred and Rita Richman, 1987 (1987.453.1)

The Toba Batak people of northern Sumatra are especially notable for the abundance and variety of their ritual arts. In the past, the primary religious figures in Toba Batak society were datu, male religious specialists who acted as intermediaries between the human and supernatural worlds. Much of Toba Batak sacred art centered on the creation and adornment of the paraphernalia used by the datu in ritual contexts such as divination, curing ceremonies, or malevolent magic. The datu employed a variety of containers made of different materials to hold the supernaturally powerful substances used in rituals and other ceremonial contexts. The type of container seen here, known as a naga morsarang, is fashioned from the hollow horn of a water buffalo.

The tip of the horn is carved in the form of a seated human figure. The wider, open end is plugged with an elaborate wood stopper that depicts a singa (a fantastic creature that served as a supernatural protector) with four human figures riding on its back. These human images possibly represent the succession of ritual masters who preceded the datu who owned the container or figures from local oral tradition.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Finial from a Ritual Staff (Tungkot Malehat), 19th–early 20th century Toba Batak people, Sumatra, Indonesia Copper alloy, resin

Finial from a Ritual Staff

Finial from a Ritual Staff (Tungkot Malehat), 19th–early 20th century
Toba Batak people, Sumatra, Indonesia
Copper alloy, resin

H. 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm)
Gift of Fred and Rita Richman, 1988 (1988.143.141)

Toba Batak religious specialists (datu) formerly employed ritual staffs whose supernatural powers aided them in performing ceremonies. These staffs were of two types: larger examples (tunggal panaluan) carved from a single piece of wood and smaller composite staffs (tungkot malehat) with separately made finials. The brass figure seen here was originally the finial of a tungkot malehat. The serene expression of the figure suggests the subject may be in a trance. This, together with the cylindrical vessel held by the figure, which possibly represents a container for magical substances, suggest the image may portray a datu during a ritual performance. The hollow interior of the figure is filled with a resinous material, visible through holes in the headdress and chest. This was almost certainly a magical substance, which enhanced the supernatural power of the staff.

 

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Architectural Ornament

Architectural Ornament

Architectural Ornament, late 19th–early 20th century
Toba Batak people, Sumatra, Indonesia
Wood, paint

H. 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm)
Gift of Fred and Rita Richman, 1988 (1988.143.68)

Among the Toba Batak people of northern Sumatra, communal houses were, and in some areas still are, richly adorned with ornate architectural carvings, painted in red, white, and black. The carvings consisted primarily of foliate geometric designs in low relief interspersed with the heads or figures of real or fantastic creatures, carved in the round. Although the ends of the house were adorned primarily with images of singa (composite creatures that served as supernatural guardians), the sides of the houses were often decorated with horses' heads, such as the present work, which also served as supernatural protectors. In Toba Batak religion, horses were believed to have the ability to carry individuals to the land of the ancestors. On earth, they served as status symbols, as only wealthy members of the elite could afford to own them.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Container for Magical Substances (Perminangken )

Container for Magical Substances

Container for Magical Substances (Perminangken [?]), 19th–early 20th century
Toba Batak people, Sumatra, Indonesia
Wood, Chinese trade ceramic

H. 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm)
Gift of Fred and Rita Richman, 1988 (1988.124.2a,b)

In the past, containers for magical substances formed a central component of the ritual paraphernalia of Toba Batak religious specialists (datu). Often consisting, as here, of imported ceramic vessels sealed with locally carved wood stoppers, such containers were primarily used to hold pukpuk, a powerful supernatural substance typically derived from a ritually slain human victim.  

Pukpuk was used to enliven sacred objects, such as ritual staffs or human figures, through being applied to the surface or inserted into holes in the object that were later plugged to seal the power within.


The stopper of this container depicts a rider mounted on a supernatural animal known as a singa. Often combining the features of horses, snakes, water buffalo, large feline predators, and other animals, singa are fantastic composite creatures that serve as supernatural protectors and are associated with the nobility.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Puppet Head (Si Gale-gale)

Puppet Head (Si Gale-gale)

Puppet Head (Si Gale-gale), late 19th–early 20th century
Toba Batak people, Sumatra, Indonesia
Wood, brass, lead alloy, water buffalo horn, pigment

H. 11 1/4 in. (28.6 cm)
Gift of Fred and Rita Richman, 1987 (1987.453.6)

The present head once formed part of a near-lifesized si gale-gale. Recent analysis reveals it to be a masterpiece of engineering as well as sculpture. It retains a complex internal mechanism controlled by strings, which allowed the figure to protrude a tablike tongue of wood. Flexible pockets of rubber, positioned behind each eye, originally held damp moss or wet sponges, which, when squeezed by another internal mechanism activated by the puppeteer, allowed the figure to weep for its departed parent.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ulos Ragidup

Ulos Ragidup

In tradition of marriage of BATAK TOBA, there is ULOS that is given to the new couple. It’s a cloth and called ULOS RAGIDUP.  Ragidup (aragi = life )  is the simbol of life.  This is the kind of Ulos that is so complex and therefor it has high level of degree in Batak culture. This kind of ulos is given by the father of bridegroom and it has a meaning for prosperity to the couple and to strenghten the string of friendship between 2 family in marriage. Sometimes, this Ulos Ragidup is used to wrap up the body of the dead or the coffin.

There is 3 way how to use Ulos in batak culture :

1. Siabithononton ( is used ) : Ragidup, Sibolang, Runjat, Djobit, Simarindjamisi, Ragi Pangko.
2. Sihadanghononton ( is used on the head or just put on your shoulder ) : Sirara, Sumbat, Bolean, Mangiring, Surisuri, Sadum.
3. Sitalitalihononton ( is used on your waist like a sarong ) : Tumtuman, Mangiring, Padangrusa.

ULOS SIBOLANG

ULOS SIBOLANG

This is the kind of batak cloth that has high degree on our culture.  Given to them who has been merit from bride’s  parents to bridegroom’s parents.  This kind of Cloth ( Ulos ) is given to woman  that in grieving for her dead husband.  As a respectfull  on all her servise to her husband  during their life.


Ulos with line motif that describes  bird or star for some other  tradition ceremony  such as to welcome for the first child.

Rumah Bolon, Batak's Traditional Art

Toba Batak Traditional House called the Rumah Bolon or Bolon House , rectangular and sometimes inhabited by 5 to 6 families. To enter the house need to climb stairs located in the middle of the house, with an odd number of rungs. If people want to go home Toba Batak had lowered his head so as not to knock on the transverse beam, this means guests must respect the pawnbroker.

Floor of the house occasionally to 1.75 meters above the ground, and the bottom used to corral pig, chicken, and so forth.

In the past the entrance door has 2 kinds of leaf, ie leaf door horizontally and vertically, but now leaves the door horizontally not used anymore. The room in a traditional house is an open space without the rooms, although there dwells more than one family, but that does not mean there is no division of space, because in this custom home division of space is limited by their strong traditional.

The room in the back right corner called jabu bong, which is occupied by the head of the house or porjabu bong, with a wife and children are still small. This room was formerly considered the most sacred. In the upper left corner to deal with bong called Jabu Jabu Soding cater for girls who are married but do not yet have their own home.On the left front corner is called Jabu Suhat, for the oldest boy who was breeding and beyond is called Slap Plate reserved for guests. When a big family then held a place in between 2 rooms or jabu are attached, so the room increased 2 again and the room is called Jabu Tonga ni-ronga jabu hue.

Each family has its own kitchen which is located behind the house, in the form of additional buildings. In between two rows of the room that is in the middle of the house is a neutral area called the lake and serves as a place of deliberation. Other buildings similar to the house is like a house sopo ie originating from the barn to store, then inhabited. The difference with the home are: Sopo two-story, has only one line of the front pillars and under the open space without walls serves to deliberation, accept foreigners and a place to play music. At the front of the house there are customary trappings with geographic lines and spiral motifs and ornaments in the form of milk a woman who called adep-adep. This decoration symbolizes the source of fertility and a symbol of unity of life.

Houses of the most decorations called Gorga. Another ornament is called nipahu fern motif, and thorny rattan called mardusi located on the wall above the entrance. At the corners of the house there are densely packed Elephant decoration, patterned face of the beast, have an intention as against disaster. Similarly, animal-patterned decoration lizard, lion's head which is intended to deny the dangers of such external magic. This decoration is a form of engraving then given color, there is also a form of illustration only.

Batak Toba traditional house based on its function can be differentiated into a house that used to shelter the family called ruma, and the house used as a storage (barn) is called Sopo. The materials consist of wooden building with large pillars and sturdy.The walls of the board or the side:, the floor is also off the board while the roof of the fibers. Type the typical Toba Batak traditional houses is a form of a curved roof and the eaves of the front.

Source: Wiki, Net-Translated By Romescopurba.com Via GoogleTranslate