Balairung
Abalairungis a village hall of theMinangkabau peopleofWest Sumatra,Indonesia.It has a similar architectural form to therumah gadang,the domestic architecture of the Minangkabau people. Whereas arumah gadangis a proper building, thebalairungis a pavilion-like structure used solely for holding aconsensus decision-makingprocess in the Minang society.
Etymology
[edit]According to theMinangkabau Dictionary,abalairungis a building where adecision-making consensusis held, led by the chief (penghulu) of theadatsociety (ninik mamak).Balairungis derived from the wordsbalai( "pavilion" ) andrung( "building" ), referring to the traditional pavilion-like wooden architecture of the building.[1]
The termbalairunghas been incorporated into theIndonesian languagein general. TheGreat Dictionary of the Indonesian Languagedefines thebalairungas abalai( "pavilion" ) or a largependapawhere the king meets with his people (bangsal kencanais theYogyakarta-Surakartaequivalent). In modern times, any kind of hall was namedbalairung,e.g., thebalairungbuilding of theUniversity of Indonesia,which is the main hall of the university and the largest building in the campus.[2]
Architecture
[edit]
A balairung has the same form as arumah gadang,employing a dramatic curved roof structure with multi-tiered, upswept gables. Similar to therumah gadang,balairungis designed as a raised stage house, supported by posts.[3]and its walls (if they exist) are similarly decorated with carvings of painted floral patterns.
The main difference between abalairungand arumah gadangis that the layout of the interior is not divided into rooms; instead, it is designed as one room as a whole used for a communal function. Consequently, abalairunglacks panels for the door and shutters for the windows. Manybalairungsdo not have a wall at all.[4]With no wall, more people can join the meeting from the outside of thebalairung.[4]Access to abalairungis provided by a single portal in the middle of the building, linked to the ground with a staircase.[3]
Abalairungmay be built with ananjung,a kind of raised platform at the two ends of thebalairungbuilding. This raised platform is where thepenghulu pucuakshould be seated.[4]Somebalairungsare built with the floor situated at the same level, lacking theanjung.In other types ofbalairung,such as thebalairung koto piliang,the middle part of the building contains no floor, allowing the horse of thepenghuluto pass through. The part where the floor disappears is known aslabuan gajah.[4]
Function
[edit]Thebalairungis a wooden building where the group of chiefs, orpenghulu,collected under the name ofninik mamak,leading a meeting to solve village affairs. According to its function, abalairungcan be divided into two types: thebalai saruangand thebalai pasujian.Abalai saruangis used to hold meetings which resolve disputes or give punishment to a person. Thebalai pasujian(a pavilion to prepare) is a platform where a mutual consultation is held before implementing new laws in the village.[5]
Abalairungcan only be built in a village that has already received thenagaristatus (administrative village). Therefore, the balairung acts as a kind of town hall for the village.[4]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^Mas'oed Abidin 2005,p. 85.
- ^Balairung from Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia
- ^abSyamsidar 1991,p. 50.
- ^abcdeSyamsidar 1991,p. 51.
- ^Syamsidar 1991,p. 49.
Cited works
[edit]- Mas'oed Abidin (2005). "Balairung".Ensiklopedi Minangkabau.New York: Pusat Pengkajian Islam dan Minangkabau.ISBN9789793797236.
- Syamsidar (1991).Arsitektur tradisional daerah Sumatera Barat[Traditional Architecture of West Sumatra] (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, Direktorat Jenderal Kebudayaan, Direktorat Sejarah dan Nilai Tradisional, Proyek Inventarisasi dan Pembinaan Nilai-Nilai Budaya.