Difference between Minangkabau in Sumatera and Negeri Sembilan ( PART 1 )

The Minangkabau house in Western Sumatera 

-The studies undertaken by others (Asri [4]; Is [5]; Widya [9]; Manggis [17]) stated that the design of the Minangkabau houses in Western Sumatera was greatly influenced by nature. The houses are different from other ethnic groups’ traditional houses. They are easily recognised by their unique architectural features, especially the concave roof design that looks like buffalo horns or bumbung bergonjong (Idrus [19]) (figure 4 and figure 5).

 

Figure 4: The Bundo Kanduang house.

                   

 Figure 5: The Pagar Ruyung palace

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The Western Sumatera Minangkabau house is a traditional house used for living as well as a place for rituals or customary ceremonies. It can also be used for conference or communal meetings (Yovita [1]; Soeroto [6]). The house can be owned by a certain clan or certain individuals as the house is inherited from ancestors. It cannot be sold or bought like other inheritances such as farmland, paddy fields and plantations [6]. The house can accommodate more than one family that can be the family of the grandmother, the family of the mother and the family of the daughter, while the head of the house known as tungganai, will be appointed to lead the occupants (Erman et al. [20]).