Indonesia is a region that has a variety of cultures and loyal cultures of the region. One of the areas that will become an attractive tourist destination is the province of North Sumatra. North Sumatra has a variety.
Samosir Island has the best charm and is located in the middle of the largest caldera lake in the world, namely Lake Toba. Samosir Island is still the star of Batak tourism.
Tourist visits to this island are always crowded, both by local and foreign tourists. While taking a walk on Samosir Island, there is also nothing wrong with learning the history and cultural customs of this Batak Land.
The following Indonesiar.com summarizes the tourist attractions of Samosir Island that can be visited in 1 day. Anything ?
- Sigale-gale
The first dish from Samosir Island that you can enjoy is the Sigale-gale Show. It is not far from Tomok Pier, one of the entrance gates to Samosir Island, where the Sigale-gale performance can be found by browsing the Tomok knick-knack market.
A signpost with the words “Sigale-gale” will mark where you should step your feet. Sigale-gale is a dance art originating from the Batak land where the dance is performed by a wooden puppet moved by a puppeteer.
The doll with a height of 1.5 meters which is located on top of the coffin is dressed exactly like a human by wearing clothes and not forgetting the ulos which is the pride of the Batak people across his shoulders.
Accompanied by the typical Batak Gondang music played through flutes, drums and gongs, Sigale-gale will dance like a professional traditional dancer. His hands can twist and his head can sway from side to side.
Sigale-gale’s story began when a Batak king lost his favorite child on the battlefield. Since the death of his son, the king has been gloomy and sickly. No medicine or witch doctor could cure the king’s liver disease.
With an initiative, the royal elders made a wooden doll that resembled the son of the deceased king, the Manggale. The spirit of the Manggale was called in to fill the wooden doll.
Since being called in, this Sigale-gale doll has danced non-stop for 7 days and 7 nights. Seeing this, the king became happy and his physical condition began to improve. It is from this event that the Sigale-gale legend originates.
In ancient times, the Sigale-gale dance was performed for certain activities such as funerals. However, now Sigale-gale is more of an event to attract tourists to Samosir Island. The Sigale-gale doll does not want to dance alone, it has to be accompanied by many people. For that, if you want to see this doll rock, then you have to dance too.
One of the requirements to join the Sigale-gale dance is to use Ulos. Generally Ulos is provided not far from the Sigale-gale doll, you just need to pick it up and use it.
At the end of the dance, you will be asked to put voluntary money into the Sigale-gale Doll’s shirt pocket or into the donation box. The dance will be closed by shouting HORAS 3 times. There are 3 Sigale-gale shows in Tomok.
- King Sidabutar’s Tomb
On the island of Samosir, there is an old tomb equipped with a magnificent roof and its surrounding which is wrapped in ceramics or is shaped to resemble the House of Bolon at the top, the tombs of the Batak people are made so big and handsome.
This big and handsome old tomb is the Old Tomb of King Sidabutar. King Sidabutar is believed to be the first to set foot on Samosir Island. The tomb itself is about 460 years old. There are 3 kings who are buried in this complex where the first 2 kings are still animist and the last one is Christian.
The king who still adheres to animism, his body was placed in a large stone coffin which had been prepared by himself, complete with carvings. The stone chest was not buried but was left on the ground. After Christianity entered, then the body was buried in the ground.
There are also small stone graves in the tomb complex of King Sidabutar. It is not a baby grave but a place to collect or place bones.
To enter the tomb complex of King Sidabutar, which is located not far from the location of the Sigale-gale performance, you must wear the ulos provided by the tomb guard. For those who don’t use ulos, it is said that the spirit of King Sidabutar will be present in that person’s dream.
- Batak Museum
Located not far from the Old Tomb of King Sidabutar, the Batak Museum holds a lot of this land’s wealth. Some of the King’s relics can be seen such as the batak king’s magic stick or what is commonly called Tunggal Panaluan, war equipment, ancient ulos, artifacts and even Sigale-gale puppets are here.
Actually this museum is almost the same as a museum in general, it’s just that the use of Rumah Bolon as a storage medium for these relics makes the museum really Batak. At the end of the journey in this museum, there is a souvenir selling place. Several replicas of the objects in this museum can be purchased.
- Siallagan’s Trial Stone
In the past, the Batak people were known for their cannibalism. The ancient Batak people did not arbitrarily choose victims to eat, there were specific criteria such as what people could eat and for what purpose they were eaten. To find out what kind of origin of cannibalism in the Land of Batak, come to the Siallagan Kingdom Trial Stone complex.
Besides knowing the origin of cannibalism, here you can see the place where royal criminals were tried in the past. The descendants of King Siallagan will tell how his ancestors used to act against and judge a criminal.
Almost similar to the current trial conditions, ancient criminals in this area were also tried accompanied by lawyers, even up to 2 lawyers. It is not surprising why there are Batak people who are active in the legal world (as judges, prosecutors, lawyers), because from hundreds of years ago they have been familiar with trials and argued about Batak customary laws.
In this royal complex there is also Rumah Bolon which is the traditional house of the Toba people. Unfortunately this house is no longer the original house because a fire had hit this area and completely destroyed all of the Bolon Houses here. Rumah Bolon was rebuilt using a tin roof and already using nails (the original Bolon house used palm fiber and did not use nails at all during the manufacturing process).
To get here from Tomok, you can use public transportation on Samosir Island at a cost of IDR 5,000. After finding a sign that says “Stone Chair Siallagan”, you only need to walk 300 meters to arrive at the location.
- Huta Bolon Simanindo Museum
Huta in Batak means Kampung and Bolon means Big, while Simanindo is one of the sub-districts on Samosir Island. Huta Bolon Simanindo Museum is a traditional Batak village that contains the Bolon house (traditional Batak house) inherited from King Sidauruk. This place has been a museum since 1969.
To be able to enter the Museum area, voyagers must first pay a predetermined ticket. Not far from the counter, you can see 5 large tombs of Batak kings lined up neatly.
The Huta Bolon area is very large but the entrance gate is only 1 and very small, only fits one person. If there are 2 people, one wants to leave and one wants to enter, then they have to do it alternately.
Entering the gate, you will be amazed by the view of the traditional village. To the left of the entrance, there are 3 houses of Bolon. The house on the far left is a place for staff, the house in the middle or the house of the king is a house that can be entered, and finally, the house on the right is a house where Batak souvenirs are sold.
Right in front of the king’s house, there are 4 barns or what in Batak language is known as Sopo. Inside one of the granaries is a Losung, a traditional rice mash tool.
An empty courtyard stretches out between Rumah Bolon and Sopo. You can see a Borotan or a sacred tree standing upright as a sweetener in the middle of the yard. This tree used to be used as a place for slaughtering buffalo during the Mangalahat Horbo event.
You can see the Sigale-gale show at Huta Bolon. The schedule for the Sigale-gale dancing wooden puppet performance is at 10.30 WIB every day. Make sure you don’t come late if you want to watch this show.
The location of the Hota Bolon Museum is the farthest among the 4 others. It takes approximately 40 minutes by public transportation to arrive at this place.
Keep in mind, it’s best to go to Samosir Island at 08:00 WIB and return at 15:00 WIB. Crossing can use a ferry or a special passenger boat from Ajibata Port, Parapat. The crossing time is approximately 1 hour. If you want it to be faster, you can rent a speedboat with a capacity of up to 12 people.
Rental fee is around 700 thousand rupiah. If you move from Tomok to Batu Persidangan Siallagan or the Huta Bolon Simanindo Museum you can use public transportation on Samosir Island. If you want to stay overnight in Samosir, in the Tuktuk area, there are several inns.
So, are you interested in taking a tour to Samosir Island? Come on, try to fill your holiday with positive things and add insight.
Source : Team Media Indonesiar
