Architecture of South Sumatera Traditional House

Palembang architecture

Traditional architecture is usually built according to and following the norms inherited by their ancestors and followed by the local society.

Beside pile-houses, where living-rooms are over the ground-surface, and the space under the houses is for keeping tools and animals, other characteristics of the traditional building of South Sumatra (Palembang) are the differing heights of the floors.

The part with the highest floor at once indicates also the most important part. The house can be observed as being divided into 3 parts, namely the front-veranda in the front, the middle part and the rear-veranda, which are successively functioning as follows:
The front veranda for the guests and the sons, the centre is for the parents and room for the brides or for prominent guests, and the rear-veranda for the girls and the kitchen.

The parents are the most respected persons, therefore the highest place for them. A limasan roof covers the middle part, which is drawn forward and backward to covering the front and the rear-veranda, shapes the monumental form of the house.

The shape formed by the extension of the roof, confirms the concept of room-hierarchy inside the building.

As the traditional houses in other areas especially of the classic style, art elements are never forgotten, particularly in religious buildings, palaces and houses of nobles. The art elements not only function as decoration to beautify the building, but also bear symbolic meanings. Even social status factors are reflected inside.

Thus the case we observed on buildings in South Sumatra which are full of wood carving with golden colours. Chinese motives and European motives are blended in one with traditional motives, which further gave the birth of Pelembang characteristic motives.

Like most of the traditional buildings in Sumatra, the traditional house or adapt-house in South Sumatra shows characteristics of timber buildings with pole construction, i.e. house built on poles with space under the floor.

Building material is mostly lasting timber as the tembesu wood (Lat, Fragraca), the tenam (Anisoptera) or the seru (Schima bancana) which are usually utilized as mast, cross-bar, rib, frame and partition board. As roof they commonly use bamboo or gelumpai with palm fibre layers.

Based on the shape of the roof the traditional houses in South Sumatra are classified into the limas an (pyramidal) – type and the tatahan (encrusted) type. Viewed from the front, the limas an type has the shape of a pyramid. The tatahan type has a Minangkabau-styled shape of its roof, i.e. a pointed roof-ridge and a bent down roof-centre.

The volume and size of the house depend on the social status of the inhabitant. This can also be identified through the quantity of the interior decoration of the house.

As the case in the traditional house of Riau and Jambi, the ground plant of the house shows some divisions. The most front is the front-veranda introduced by the house-ladder. From the front-veranda we enter the men’s hall (jogan) and further to the main-room (kekijing). Behind the main0room there is the rear veranda (garang) with the kitchen. The floor of each room differs from the others, it means that the front part has a low floor and the main room has the highest floor.

Of the South Sumatra’s traditional house, its interior decoration is quite attractive. This decoration has the form of wood carving with a so called see-through transparent carving technique bearing plant motives as sunflower, bamboo shoot, etc.

Decoration art in a Palembang traditional house is an integration of elements of Javanese and Chinese arts. Wood carving decoration combined with contrast colours like gold-coating and red lac (lak).

Floor as sitting place with rug-underlayer, back-cushionsiopes with stars-motive.

Tapis - Traditional Weaving of Lampung

Lampung had a rich and varied weaving tradition and its has its own traditions, high valued handicraft and art creations such as woven cloth, interwoven by gold threads called "tapis". For the Lampung community, tapis cloth reflects the status of the owner. Take Tapis Raja Medal, for example. This particular type of cloth may be worn only during traditional ceremonies by the upper class of the indigenous Lampung ethnic group, such as family members of traditional community elders or tribal chiefs. Even among the upper class, there are special rules that must be observed when wearing the cloth.

Traditionally, Lampung textiles were used as part of religious ceremonies such as weddings and circumcisions.The type of the ceremony will determine which tapis cloth should be worn. For weddings and cakak pepadun, only Tapis Jung Sarat, Raja Medal, Raja Tunggal, Dewasano, Limar Sekebar, Ratu Tulang Bawang and Cucuk Semako can be worn.

Tapis Raja Tunggal, Lampung

If a piece of tapis cloth is worn for a cangget, an event in which a dance is performed to honor an important guest, then it must be one with any of these motifs: Bintang Perak, Tapis Balak, Pucuk Rebung, Lawek Linau or Kibang. For elderly women, the tapis worn is usually Tapis Agheng, Cucuk Pinggir or Tapis Kaca. If a piece of tapis cloth is worn when it should not be, a traditional sanction will be imposed on the wearer. He or she will be admonished by the other members of the community. If, for example, someone who has yet to meet the traditional requirements for wearing Tapis Medal insists on wearing it during a traditional ceremony, the cloth may be taken off in public.

The Pucuk Rebung motif, a symbol of prosperity, remains the main motif used in tapis cloth today. Also still popular nowadays is the spiral motif, the symbol of worship of the sun and nature. The decorative motif of the Tree of Life is also believed to signify the unity and oneness of God, the creator of the universe.

However, modernization has caused tapis cloth to lose its sacred quality. Today, it is worn not only by noble families and traditional community elders, but also by lower class Lampung people. There is a difference, though.

The thread used to embroider the cloth worn by traditional community elders is usually mixed with gold but for ordinary people, the thread is gold in color only.
Despite this difference, the motifs embroidered on tapis cloth worn by ordinary people are still beautiful. However, the cloth may only be worn for certain traditional rites, such as bumammat, an event in which youngsters recite the Koran in a traditional hall in the presence of community elders and others as evidence that they can read the Koran.

Architecture of Banjar Traditional House

A traditional house of Banjar. This type of house is often called the high roofed-house (rumah bubungan tinggi) or “rumah ba-anjung” because the roof is very high and sharp, South Kalimantan

History and the Development of the Traditional House of Banjar

The traditional house of Banjar is usually called “Rumah Hubungan Tinggi “ because the roofs form a 45° angle. This form of the Banjar House began to establish during the 16th century when Banjar area was ruled by Prince Samudra who became a follower of Islam. He named himself Sultan Suriansyah with the title of Panembahan Batu Habang. Before he became a Sultan, he was a Hindu. He ruled the Banjar Sultanate between 1596 – 1620.

At the beginning, the traditional house of Banjar was a long house with the narrow sides as the front and back part. Later, they attached additional houses on the left and right sides of the house. Near the back part of the house, they also add an additional house that had the same length as the previous one. They called this addition “disumbi”.

The additional building (house) attached on the left and right of the main building are called Pisang Sasikat by Banjar people and since they are like pavilions, they called them “anjung”, so that the traditional Banjar house is usually called “Rumah Ba-anjung”.

Around the year of 1850, they built house around the Banjar Palace, especially around the Martapura Palace. But the “Rumah Ba-anjung” is the main building where the Sultan and his family live.

The Gajah Menyusu, Kelayan Dalam. A type of traditional house of Banjar people, South Kalimantan.

Some of the buildings around the Palace are the Palimasan which is used to store gold and silverware the treasure of Sultanate. The Balai Laki where the ministers live, the Balai Bini where the servants live, the Gajah Manyusu, where the close relatives of the Sultan live, they are the Gusti-Gusti and Anang. There are also buildings that are called Gajah Baliku, Palembangan, and Balai Seba.

Balai Bini, Benua Anyar Banjarmasin

Later, many houses are built following the same patters as the palace “Rumah Ba-anjung” so that this typical building is not only owned by Banjar people. The typical form of the Rumah Ba-anjung has spread to South, Central and Eastern Kalimantan with its original and traditional Banjar style is still clearly seen.


Rumah Ba-anjung is found in Pangkalan Bun, the old Kotawaringin and Kumai, in the area of Kotawaringin, central Kalimantan. These Rumah Ba-anjung became a familiar sight following the fraction of the Kotawaringin Sultanate from the older Banjar Sultanate when Banjar was ruled by Sultan Musta’inbillah between the year of 1650 to 1672 and succeeded by Sultan Inayatullah. The first Sultan of the Kotawaringin Sultanate was Prince Dipati Anta Kusuma.
The traditional house of Banjar were also found in Eastern Kalimantan because many people from Banjar moved here and made their houses in the same way as when they were in Banjar and so the Banjar type house had spread throughout Kalimantan. Nowadays the Banjar-type houses are rarely seen. Since 1930 they have rarely made new Banjar-type houses because of the high cost, difficulties in getting the suitable location and the impractical usage of that kind of houses.

Many Banjar-type houses are repaired and changed to match their need of modern living (in terms of the maintenance and healthy environments). Many families still maintain their traditional Banjar houses, but they live in their modern houses that they built near the traditional ones.

When we see come traditional Banjar houses in South Kalimantan, we can conclude that those houses must have been built before the year of 1930. We can still find them in Sungai Jingah village, Kampung Melayu Laut (Banjarmasin), in Teluk Selong village, Desa Dalam Pagar (Martapura), in Birayanf village (Barabai) and in Negara. They are in a very good condition, and the government has tried to subsidize them for their renovation and maintenance, but unfortunately the owner refused the help some uncertain reasons.

Observing the traditional Banjar houses, we can study their beautiful architecture and their ornaments.

The Construction of the Banjar House

The traditional Banjar House is entirely made of wood because wood is abundant in Kalimantan. Wood is the only suitable material for that kind of traditional house.

The construction is divided into four main parts, they are:
1. The body of the main skeleton of the roof, in line to the main building.
2. Additional building attached to the left and right of the main building are called the “anjung”.
3. Sharp-type roofs (45° angle) we called “Hubungan Tinggi”.
4. A long skeleton elongated from the main one in the front part of the main house is called the Sindang Langit.

The body of the house is something like an oblong is divided into rooms with different level.
1. Palatar (front porch or ‘pendapa’)
This is the first room directly above the entrance ladder. The room is 7 by 3 meters.
2. Panampik Kecil
A small room behind the Palatar with an entrance door (lawang hadapan). The floor is higher than the floor of the front porch. The front floor of this room is called the Watun Sambungan. This room is 7 by 3 meters.
3. Panampik Tengah or Panampik Panangah.
This room is behind the Panampik Kecil and it is wider. The floor is wider than the floor of the Panampik Kecil. The front floor of this room is called the Watun Jajakan.
4. Panampik Besar or Ambin Sayup.
The floor is higher than the floor of the Panampik Tengah. The front floor of this room is called the Watun Jajakan, the same term used in the Panampik Tengah. This room is 7 by 5 meters.
5. Palindangan or Ambin Dalam.
This room is behind the Panampik Besar. The floor has the same level as that of Panamik Besar (there are some that have higher floors than those of Panamik Besar). Since the frame of the door does nothave the same level as the floor of the Palindangan, they call it Watun Langkahan (one has to step over it to enter). The room is 7 by 7 meters.
Inside the Palindangan room, there are 8 capitals to support the “hubungan tinggi’. The capitals are called Tihang Pitugur or Tihang Guru.
6. Panampik Dalam or Panampik Bawah.
A wide room in which the floor is lower than the Palindang, but it is the same level as the Panampik Tengah. The front floor of this room is called Watun Jajakan. The room is 7 by 5 meters.
7. Padapuran or Padu.
This is the last room of the main house which floor is lower than Panampik Bawah. The front floor of this room is called the Watun Juntaian. Sometimes the Watun Juntaian is high enough to step on so that they need a ladder to enter.

The Padapuran is divided into 3 parts:
* The atangan – a kind of kitchen.
* the salaian – a place to dry fire wood.
* the pajijiban and the pagaduran – a palce for washing.
The toom is 7 by 3 meters.

The traditional house of Banjar have relatively different dimension. This is caused by the different standards of measurements, should be in off numbers. It includes thelenght, width, height, etc., also the numbers of the windows, ladder-step, etc.

If we measure the dimension of the main house, it usually has 31 by 7 meters. Each anjung on the left and right of the main house is usually 5 meters wide. The height of the floor under the anjung and the palindangan is 2 meters above the ground, but under the palatar, it is only 1 meter.

Dahi Lawang Balai Laki di Kuin Utara

Dahi Lalongkang Rumah Gajah Manyusu di Kuin Utara
Woodcarving has an important role in the traditional house in Banjar. A unit of a traditional house is not complete enough without the application of woodcarving. They carved the bottom side of the wooden wall and the sides of the roofs. The carving is called the “lis-lis” or in Banjar they call it “Papilis or Pilis”. The motif of the carving is continuous flames, flower, etc.

Architecture of Lampung Traditional House

Lampung Architecture

The influence of Hindu and Islam does not change much in traditional architecture of Lampung. The traditional Architecture of Lampung like that of other areas in Indonesia, is wood architecture which has a structure and planning like that found in the area os South Sumatra “Atap Pelana” roof which is also called “Atas bumbungan perahu” roof, has the form of trapeze white when seen from the front or nearly has the form isosceles. There are some kinds or traditional buildings in Lampung such as village hall or “Sesat”, residence of community head or traditional house, common people house or mosque.


The Javanese cultural influence is seen on the construction of mosque and traditional house. Mosque in South and East Lampung take the example of the mosques in Banten whereas in West and North Lampung the influence of mosque of West Sumatra and Palembang is more dominant. These two characteristics like those in other mosques in other areas have piled up pyramidal roofs. Traditional dwelling house of common people is “Rumah bertingkat” (a storey grandstand) with a front room, a place to receive guest, a middle room for family to live and a rear room for the kitchen, the entire space under the house has a function of a shed and also as a stable.

A broader and more specified construction that an ordinary house is a traditional house, a construction which represents traditional house of Lampung. This kind of construction is for a well to do people who has a high social dignity among the Lampung community (Sistem pepadun). Based on the plan and structure, residence of noblemen of Sunda Banten, the entire group of construction consists of a gate leading to the building of aseban, a kind of sentry box or a place for men to relax.

Apart from that, there is “Ambang Agung” which functions as a corridor between the main house and aseban. A space which is called Andjing-andjing is an open verandah encircling the main house. The main house comprise lapang Agung, a large middle room, a place to receive guests on ceremonies. On the right and left of “Lapang Agung” there are rooms for families. Annexed to the main house is a kitchen or “Gerang”, where as the rice barn is in the rear yard. If there are not so many decorations on the mosque, but in traditional house this proved be on the contrary.

Colored carving and engraving of decoration on wood are found in some parts of the building such as the pillars, doors, windows fence of the verandah, ceiling, frame of roofs and also found on tables, chairs, beds and on pepadun. Beside Palembang decorative arts, also Java decorative style, like plants and animals and some geometrical motives. Such a decoration appears on heirlooms for traditional ceremonies (begawi) such as gold wagon, “pata aji”, pepadun sheath of sword, handle of spear handle of “keris”(dagger) etc.