TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Bengkayang'€™s cultural treasure

Precarious: People scale the 15-meter ladder to the traditional house’s entranceIt requires a little courage to get the full experience of the Baluk customary house, located in Sebujit hamlet in a remote part of Bengkayang, West Kalimantan

Bambang Bider (The Jakarta Post)
West Kalimantan
Thu, October 23, 2014

Share This Article

Change Size

Bengkayang'€™s cultural treasure

Precarious: People scale the 15-meter ladder to the traditional house'€™s entrance

It requires a little courage to get the full experience of the Baluk customary house, located in Sebujit hamlet in a remote part of Bengkayang, West Kalimantan.

Get ready to ascend 15 meters on a ladder to a creaking bamboo platform that stands on wooden poles that are 15 centimeters in diameter.

Don'€™t mind the human skulls that greet you at the top.

Several years ago, Sebujit hamlet was only reachable via a nine-hour motorboat journey along the Seluas river. Since 2002, however, the isolated village can be reached by road '€” albeit by motorcycle.

The house, built by the province'€™s Dayak Bidayuh people, is circular with a diameter of 10 m. It is supported by 20 or so round poles made from ulin (Borneo ironwood). Other poles serve as ladders.

Atop is a cone-shaped roof, called payukng samai in the local language, which refers to protection in a philosophic sense. Its four windows face the four cardinal points of the compass.

One of the customary functions of the Baluk house is to preserve human skulls obtained from the ancestors of the Dayak Bidayuh who practiced ritual headhunting.

The height of the house represents the reverence that local residents feel for prior generations '€” and for Kamang Tariuy, a god of war believed to be the hamlet'€™s protector.

Ancestors are also honored by a customary harvest thanksgiving ceremony called the Nyobeng. Observed in June, the event is a major tourist attraction in Bengkayang regency.

The Baluk house has other social functions, such as a venue for rituals, a place for customary ceremonies, a communal hall and a community activity center.

Repository: One of the customary functions of the Baluk house is to preserve human skulls obtained from the ancestors of the Dayak Bidayuh, who practiced ritual headhunting.
Repository: One of the customary functions of the Baluk house is to preserve human skulls obtained from the ancestors of the Dayak Bidayuh, who practiced ritual headhunting.

An effort to turn marginal areas into frontier districts as well as the construction of new roads and bridges has boosted growth in the least-developed parts of Bengkayang, helping make the remote region less isolated.

Despite its disadvantaged status as a border region, Bengkayang regency has great potential and a competitive advantage in the economic, social, cultural and tourism sectors.

On the sidelines of the Disadvantaged Regions Development Expo in August in Bengkayang, which was attended by Disadvantaged Regions Minister Helmy Faishal Zaini, Bengkayang Regent Suryadman Gidot revealed a plan to build a cultural village.

'€œWe'€™re making an inventory by identifying the existing potential areas in Bengkayang regency. We plan to set up a miniature park of cultural diversity within one zone,'€ Gidot said.

The regent said that the zone would preserve cultural identities of the region'€™s Chinese, Dayak, Javanese and Malay peoples.

For those who lack the time to venture deep into the heart of Kalimantan, try a trip to the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) in East Jakarta instead.

The West Kalimantan administration added a replica of the Baluk house to the provincial pavilion at TMII in 2008, to honor the edifice as a cultural icon of Bengkayang regency.

{

Your Opinion Counts

Your thoughts matter - share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.