KARO TRADITIONAL HOUSE

Karo Village, Near Kabanjahe, 1980 (By Tashimelampo)

Karo architecture

Geometric ornamentation on Karo house c. 1914-1919. Each design has specific meaning or powers. Note the stylised cicak(gecko) along the length of each wall.

Karo rumah beru-beru, c. 1870

Karo rumah tesek

Karo rumah anjong-anjong/rumah si empat ayo

The Karo rumah adat (traditional house), known as 'Siwaluh Jabu', is, as with the Rumah Aceh, oriented North-South, possibly for shelter from the sun.
Karo rumah adat are longhouses, for multiple family occupancy, up to twelve families in some areas, though usually eight. A Karo longhouse would be large, in order to accommodate so many families, and is built on stilts.
The houses are constructed for wood, bamboo, using ijuk fibres for binding (no nails or screws are used) and for the thatched roof. The design is naturally earthquake-resistant.
In order to choose a suitable site for the house, the guru (witch doctor) would be consulted, who would determine whether the land was bad or good. A plot would be staked out using coconut fronds, and other villagers would be given four days to object to the proposed construction.
After the four-day period had elapsed, a hole was dug in the centre of the plot, into which was placed a knife, betel leaf and rice. The guru and the kalimbubu and anak beru would perform rites to determine that the ground was suitable.
After the site was ready, a seven-day ceremony was performed, consulting the spirits of the forest (for wood) and arranging payment for the craftsmen responsible for creating decoration of the house.
All the occupants of the village would then erect the pillars supporting the house, after which they would eat together.
The colours used in Karo designs are red, white and black. The red signifies a zest for life, a 'get-up-and-go', the colour seen in traditional clothes used in weddings, black the colour of death, man's ignorance of Dibata's (God) will, and white, the colour of God's holiness.
Ornamentation is very important in Karo houses, with Buffalo horns an essential decoration of the rumah adat, and two white-painted horns are mounted on each end of the roof (the mounting is done in the night, so nobody sees), using both male and female bufallo. Ornaments in Karo houses served traditionally to protect the residents from evil spirits, and to demonstrate the status of the owner. With the fading of traditional religious beliefs (permena), they are now largely decorative and a reminder of past cultural traditions.
Ornaments of Karo homes are found in three ways:

• The house is decorated with braided bamboo in a variety of geometric designs. The geometric designs have been classified into seventeen types, each having special magic properties, such as the Tupak salah Silima-lima (five-pointed star), symbolising the merga silima, and deterring those who would try to upset the integrity of it.
• The kitchen is decorated with carvings
• An intaglio carved gecko protects the occupants from evil spirits

Roof

The roof of the Karo house is different from other Batak peoples, being a hip roof. The roof is the dominant feature of the house, sometimes being as tall as 15 metres high, against the supports and walls, both around 1.5 metres each.
The most basic house, known as rumah beru-beru, has a basic hip and saddle roof. The rumah tersek has a double-storied roof with a saddle roof on top of the lower part. This improves ventilation in the house, reducing the impact of cooking smoke. A house with four gables, known as a rumah si empat ayo has two saddle roofs crossed at right angles. In some cases an anjong-anjong, or miniature house, may be placed atop the house for further decoration

Internal organisation

The Karo adat house has two entrances, on the north and south ends, with a small terrace (ture) on each and stairs leading up to the house.The ture serves as a place to bathe children and to chat at night.
The traditional eight-family Karo longhouse contained four kitchens, each shared between two close families, and containing two stoves each. The stoves was made using five stones as a symbol of the Karo merga silima (five marga)
The house was structured so that the pengulu (leader) of the house occupies the front-left room, with his sembuyak (parents) in the room to the right. In a mirror image, his anak beru and kalimbubu would occupy the corresponding rooms entering from the rear of the house. The four rooms in the middle of the house were of lower status and each contained a kitchen, which was shared with the rooms on their outside.

Traditional Karo keben, c. 1910-1930