Keep The Traditions

Province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam or usually called Aceh, have a very long period of history. The origin kingdom is called Samudra Pasai (13th-15th century) until the Sultanate of Aceh (15th -18th century) and now become one of Indonesian's province. It is a very long time period.

Samudra pasai and Kingdom of Aceh, known as the first establishment of Islam in south east Asia. Even, Aceh Kingdom has a relationship with Ottoman Empire in 16th century. With this relation, no wonder that Aceh called itself "Seramoe Mecca" or gate of Mecca. The most sacred place for muslim people. Aceh people also have a culture that very close to the middle east. This including the dance.

The traditional dance from Aceh is always remind to us about middle east cultures. The singer using Arabic and Aceh words, accompanying the dancers. The music is also has the spirit of Islam. To keep this long great histories and cultures, Mr Rizal and Mr. De Gam, choreographed a new creations dance, called Kipah Sikarang.

Enjoy this new creations.

Tari/Dance Kipah Sikarang

Tari Piring

Piring or piriang (in Minangkabau languages), mean plate. This dance originally from Minangkabau, Province of West Sumatera, Indonesia. In Minangkabau cultures, plates symbolize for prosper or affluence. The dance symbolize for "Gotong-Royong" or helping each other, which is Indonesian people life-style. During the implanting of paddy in the paddy field, all the people are helping each other from the start until the harvesting time. When it comes, the harvesting party begin and the dance appearences for celebration.

This dance represents for implanting the paddy activities. Planting, irrigated the paddy and of course the harvesting time. The dance also represent for Silat style. With the traditional music of Minangkabau, this dance is very attractive and adorable.

See the dance below:

Taken from: mfadls

See also:
1. West Sumatera
2. Tourism Object
3. Fact Book

Legacy from Paleolithic Age

Nias Island, part of North Sumatera, had a very unique culture. According to Medan Archeology, Nias has its cultures from 12 thousand years ago, in the time of Paleolithic age. This age period had the same period with Hoabinh (Vietnam) paleolithic age. The greatest thing from Nias people, they keep its cultures persistently. This makes Nias cultures keep favorable until now.

One of this legacy is JUMPING STONE:

Taken from : sgenome

But, Nias not only had the stones. The beach of this island is a very good to surf. Maybe as good as Bali Beaches. So....see and enjoy the Legacy from the ancient time.

From : Surfersvillage.com

From : lineup.com.au

Nias Island Travel Guide :
1. virtualtourist
2. world 66
3. indonesiatrekking

Smart Packing Tips :
AmazingIndonesia. Net

The Largest Flower In The World

It is a member of genus Rafflesia, parasitic flowering plants. The genus named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the expansion from British Empire. The genus Rafflesia including approximately 26 species (including 4 incomplete species, recognized by Willem Meijer, the botanist and plant collector from Dutch).

The Rafflesia genus were discovered by Dr. Joseph Arnold who was exploring the rainforest of Sumatra and Borneo (Kalimantan) of Indonesia Archipelago at 1818.

Rafflesia Arnoldi was named after those two men, Sir Raffles and Dr. Arnold. This plants has no stems, leaves or true-roots, only flowers. Its weighs 12 kg. The petals grows almost 3 meter long and 2,5 cm thick. This is makes this flower is the largest flower in world.

This flowers lives like parasites, on the vine plants as it host. It also grows only in rainforest such as forest in Sumatera and Kalimantan. Only one species grows in Java Island, Rafflesia Patma.

The Flowers looks very beautiful, but it is very reeks. This reeks use for attract the flies for pollination. This flower seemingly a strong flower, but its only have 1 week long age. No wonder if this flowers are very rare and very hard to locate. It is especially difficult to find the flower in forests as the buds take many months to develop and the flower lasts for just a few days. The flowers are unisexual and thus proximity of male and female flowers is vital for successful pollination. These factors make successful pollination a rare event.

The Jungle Man From Indonesia

In this world, there are four great apes species; gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans. Only orang utans are from Indonesia, Asia. The others are from Africa. Live at the rainforest of Indonesia, orangutans known with two species, Borneo and Sumatra. Both of them are the last surviving of Pongo Genus and the subfamily Ponginae (including the extinct Gigantopithecus and Sivapithecus).

Sivapithecus known as the ancestors of modern orangutans, but some hypothesis says it originated from Lufengpithecus. Both of these ancestors were live about more than 300 thousand years ago and now extinct.

Whose ever the orangutans are, these species are unique. When one thinks of an orangutan what usually comes to mind is the uniquely wonderful rusty-orange hair, some said bright reddish, that covers their bodies and their arms. In general its coat which is sparse, long and coarse, will range anywhere from bright orange in youngsters to a chocolate mahogany in some adults. Orangutan also known as arboreal (primarily tree dwelling), while other apes are primarily terrestrial (spending their lives on the ground).

The Sumatran species has a thinner, paler coat than that of the Bornean. It is the largest tree dwelling mammal in the world; males at 220 pounds and standing 5 feet tall are twice the size of females.

Their legs are about 30% shorter than their long arms which can grow, up to 6.6ft. (2m). They use both legs and arms to move from tree to tree in the forest canopy, swinging and moving elegantly. Makes them graceful and swift while swinging through the trees but it makes walking on the ground very slow and awkward. That is why the orangutan is at a great disadvantage on the ground, and why the orangutan rarely comes down from the treetops. Their feet are designed like hands and their both hands and feet are long, narrow and strong and used in a hook like fashion when grasping branches. The thumb is fully opposable.

The etymology said that the words orangutan derived from Indonesian Malay language. Orang mean Man, utan for Hutan mean forest or jungle, thus “the people of forest”.

Let me say that orangutan is the jungle man, and let the jungle man traveling the great forest of Kalimantan (Borneo) and Sumatra forever.

The Last “King” Of Indonesia

Photo from :http://www.lablink.or.id/Satwa/stw-harimau.htm

According to all references, the subspecies of the Tiger (Pantera Tigris) are about 9 subspecies.The list are as follows :

1. Indochinese Tiger (Panthera Tigris Corbetti) which their habitat is on rain forest and the meadow of Malaysia, Myanmar, China, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.
2. The Bengal Tiger (Panthera Tigris Tigris) which can found on Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal.
3. The South Chinese Tiger (Panthera Tigris Amoyensis) which can found in their habitat in only in South China.
4. The Siberian Tiger (Panthera Tigris Altaica), their range of live is on China, North Korea, and in the middle of Asia of Russia.
5. The Sumatran Tiger (Panthera Tigris Sumatrae) which only live on Sumatra Island, Indonesia.
6. The Malayan Tiger (Panthera Tigris Jacksoni) live only in Malaysian Penisula.
7. The Caspian Tiger (Panthera Tigris Virgata), this subspecies already extinct and they were living on rainforest and steppe of Iran, Afghanistan, Mongol, Turk and on the middle of Asia of Russia.
8. The Javanese Tiger (Panthera Tigris Sondaica) only live on Java Island, Indonesia. This subspecies also extinct already.
9. The Balinese Tiger (Panthera Tigris Balica), extinct too and they were live only on Bali Island, Indonesia.

Based on the list above, Indonesia had three subspecies of Tiger. Tragically, two of them are already extinct. The first was the Balinese Tiger which officially extinct at 1972.

After passing through long time of observation to the Javanese Tiger, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Florida, USA, decide that this subspecies is extinct. Event Team Peduli Carnivora (Team Care to the Carnivores) from Indonesia noticed that this subspecies is still exist, the decided of CITES was very ironic. 3 of 9 subspecies of the Tiger have been extinct already, and that was happens in Indonesia. Of course, 2 subspecies from 3 subspecies of Indonesian Tiger are disappears.

The extinction of the Tigers from Bali and Java, acclaimed that the Sumatran Tiger is the only King in the Indonesian Jungle. This is ironic. Because the last King of the Indonesian Tiger Emporium is live on endangered. Their population estimated only 450-500 Tigers. With those numbers and compare it with human birthrate, calculated too with their lost of habitat area, soon or later the Great King will not uphold their live anymore.

The world must support the life of this Last King of Indonesia from the vanished. Because, it is not only Indonesian Government responsible, it is the World.

Toba Lake from Legend to Tourism Object

Toba Lake

This is the volcanic lake about 3,000 square meters, located at North Sumatera, Sumatera Island, Indonesia. In the middle of this lake, lay a large island called Samosir. This island is volcanic too. The folk language said, Toba from the word Loba mean stingy, niggardly or miserly. But, the legend beyond these lake and island is interesting.

The people whose live nearby this lake said, a long time ago, there live a very poor-orphan fisherman, Toba is his name. Once day, Toba was fishing at the river and got a golden fish. This fish was very beautiful. When, the fisherman touched the fish, the fish transfigure become a very beautiful woman. The legend said she was a princess and cursed become a fish. The princess as thanks for the fisherman, she agreed to married with him. With one condition, never talking about what she was…….After a year of married, they were had a boy, and they named Samosir. Samosir was very cute boy but had a very bad attitude, never satisfy about the food. He was eat and eat, again and again. Samosir also eat everything. One day, Toba knowing his boy was never stop eat, and then Toba was going mad, angry and yelling to the boy “what a fish boy…!!!”

The mother (the princess from fish) heard her husband yell. She was very sad because her husband violated the promise. She going to her son and told to Samosir to go to the higher ground and said because of samosir’s father broke the promise, she will be transfigure again become a fish once more. After Samosir reach the highest ground, the fish princess pray to the God to revive her again. After the pray, the heavy rainfall come to the earth, flooded everything except the ground when Samosir stand. The flooded become a lake called Toba and the ground becomes an island called Samosir Island.

In the fact, the lake and the island was formed from volcano eruption about 75,000 years ago, which was clustered from Mount Tambora eruption. The combination from the legend and the nature effect, make the Toba lake become a very good tourism object and of course the icon of North Sumatera tourism object.

For decades a magnet from regional and foreign visitors alike, Toba has developed into a full-featured highland resort while retaining the rustic charm and relaxed ambiance that define Toba's attraction. Toba lake formed by the folk-legend and by a stupendous prehistoric volcanic explosion, make this lake is the largest is Southeast Asia and one of the deepest and highest in the world. The drama of that cataclysmic birth persist in 500 meter cliffs dropping into the blue-green waters, Surrounded by steep, pine covered sloped, the climate is fresh and pleasant, with just enough rain to support the lush vegetation.

Samosir Island

On the other side, Samosir, the large island in the center of the lake, is the home of the Toba batak, considered -at least by the Toba Batak - as the original Batak tribe. One of the prominent ethnic groups in the Indonesia, Bataks living in distant cities will regularly return to their ancestral island. Even people not sharing the spiritual and historic connection with the island often return to Samosir, drawn by the enchanting natural beauty and fascinating culture.

Samosir Island
(photo from : samosir.co.id)

Inside the large island of Samosir, there a three megalithic sites on which bear ancient cultures and also as the witness to the glory of Batak history. The three consist of 300-year-old stone seats and benches arrayed in a circle. The first set of ruins was used as a conference area for Batak kings or Raja. At the second site, the rajas would sit in judgment of a criminal or enemy prisoner. If the accused were found guilty, the assembly would move to the third set, which features the ghastly addition of a central stone execution block. The very wonderful are, there are two lakes on the Samosir island is called sidihoni and Aek Natonang. That's why the villages called "The Lakes beyond the Lake"

The Three Megalithic Sites Inside Samosir
(photos from : samosir.co.id)

Whatever Toba and Samosir formed, whenever they formed...
Toba Lake and Samosir Island are very good landscape and wonderful tourism object.

References :
Wikipedia.org
Indonesia.co.id
volcanodiscovery.com
samosironline

Pencak Silat

Silat, is the Indonesian traditional martial art. According to its history, silat is Malay’s (Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, South Philippine and South Thailand) cultures. In Indonesia, the Malay tribes is called for Sumatera and Kalimantan islands.

In 7^th century, silat is dispersing to all Nusantara archipelago, now call Indonesia. At this time, silat is not only used by Sumatera or Kalimantan people only, but using to by Javanese, Balinese and also using by the tribes which domiciled at Sulawesi Island. From the folk martial arts becoming a tradition to learn by boys, even for royal of ancient kingdoms. In the early 14^th century, the great Pendekar (martial artist of silat) born not only from Sumatera, The Great Gajah Mada for example. He was a Mahapatih (prime minister) of Majapahit kingdom, whose unite for almost all south east asia with silat. Majapahit was at Java island. In Javanese languages, silat is called pencak. That’s why in Indonesian modern language is called pencak silat.

At the Islamic period, silat becomes main sport at the Pesantren (Indonesian muslim’ school). Pencak Silat was also becomes symbolize of Indonesian war for freedom against the imperialism of VOC and Dutch Kingdom. All Indonesian heroes of freedom are Pendekar Pencak Silat.

Pendekar Silat

In the modern period, Pencak Silat growing more and more. Under The International Pencak Silat Federation, pencak silat is promoted to the world even to Europe and America. On 1986, the world cup of Pencak Silat, for the first time placed outer of Asia, Wina – Austria. The destination of this martial arts is becoming one of multi sport of Olympic games.

Western students learning silat