The Toba Batak house has an earth kitchen hearth similar to that of the related Japanese home.
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The cloth is dyed with fresh indigo from the garden.
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The wedding ceremonies go on for days.
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Bamboo thickets and stone walls protected each village from enemies.
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The backstrap loom is used by the women to make the elegant traditional cloths of the Batak.
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The house represents the core values of the society.
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The house is a stage for the musicians.
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Now the old house has a galvanised crown.
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The rumah adat is good for the next life too.
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The clan elders dance their greetings.
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The Catholic and Traditional cultures are blended in this wedding celebration.
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The Samosir graveyards are rich with stonework.
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On Samosir island on Toba Lake the Toba Batak build smaller, single family houses.
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The fabulous Minang culture occupies the central highlands further to the south.
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Traditional and Christian communities cherish the pig.
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The Medan city mosque seen from the palace balcony.
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The forest is littered with remnants of elite cultures now forgotten.
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Medan is a large city on the nearby coast. This is the sultan's palace there.
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The harem of the adat ruler demonstrated his status.
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The walls are rich with decoration.
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The rice barn must also follow the ancient building codes.
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The corn mill is built into the house frame.
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The great roof is thatched from palm fibre.
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Living volcanoes dot the landscape here in northern Sumatra.
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In 1983 the roads were simple and rough.
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The Karo Batak extended family shares the rumah adat - four cooking hearths are busy in this great home. Many generations of the Karo Batak close together under one roof!


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Near the big house is the rice barn which lifts the staple food crop above the reach of vermin.
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