Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c41.s18: Sumatra

Mānasāra Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Mānasāra-Śilpaśāstra; III. Mānasāra on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Mānasāra: Translation; V. Architecture of Mānasāra: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c41.s18

Language: English

Sumatra

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The great island of Sumatra is nearly four times as large as Java and the fifth island of the whole world in area, Greenland, New Guinea, Borneo, and Madagascar alone surpassing it. ‘It lies almost equally in the northern and southern hemispheres, north-west of Java, and west and south of the Malay Peninsula, its western and northern shores being washed by the Indian ocean. It has a length of 1,000 miles and a maximum breadth of 230 miles. Of the vast area of this enormous island a large part is still unexplored and unknown. The interior plateaus, forests, and mountains are still the home of cannibal tribes and the haunt of elephants and tigers.’¹

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¹ A. S. Walcott, *Java and Her Neighbours*, pp. 275-276.

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The origin of the name is ascribed by some to an abbreviation of the Malay words ‘burut suma utara,’ used by the people of Java to describe the situation of Sumatra to their ‘north-west.’ According to others, the name owes its origin to the Sanskrit form *samudra* or sea, given by the Hindu settlers to imply the ocean island. Yet a third derivation is found in Suvarṇa-dvīpa (island of gold), which is found mentioned in the *Rāmāyaṇa* in connexion with the search for Sītā, stolen by Rāvaṇa.

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Sumatra as an island of gold is mentioned, besides in the *Rāmāyaṇa*, in Buddhist literature also.² ‘From Chinese sources we learn that a Hinduized kingdom of Palembang (formerly known as Śrīvijaya) existed in Sumatra in the fifth century A.D. In the tenth century this kingdom . . . ruled over fifteen subject states. In the tenth century this Sumatran kingdom was conquered by Java, but soon recovered its independence. Early in the thirteenth century we find again a list of the subject countries of Śrīvijaya. In the fourteenth century it came under the sway of Majapapit kingdom of Java.’³ Thus ‘the history of the great island before its rediscovery by the Portuguese is wrapped in mystery.’⁴

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² B. R. Chatterjee, *India and Java*, I, pp. 22–28.

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³ *Ibid.*, p. 14.

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⁴ Walcott, p. 278.

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‘The archaeological monuments of the Hindu period in Sumatra are of small importance compared with those of Java.’

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A king of the Sailendra dynasty of the kingdom of Śrīvijaya in Sumatra is stated to have built, in Central Java, the temple of Kalasan, of the Mahāyāna divinity Tārā. ‘These Sumatran monarchs built on a grand scale in Java rather than in Sumatra.’¹ Thus, in Sumatra itself, no trace of Hindu monuments of religious character were found and recorded by the early visitors. Perhaps whatever monuments may have been there were of perishable materials and were easily destroyed by the Moslem invaders. But the existing civil architecture of the vast island must have been based upon the old tradition. So far as the peculiar horned houses of Sumatra are concerned, it will be noticed that their foundations on bamboo-pole or harder wood have their counterpart in the thatched houses in many parts of India. The horn itself may be seen in varying degrees in thatched houses in Bengal in particular. Their angularity increases in houses of those places where strong and stormy wind blows periodically. The interior arrangement and accommodation differ in accordance with the local conditions and the varying requirements of the occupants.

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¹ Chatterjee (p. 15), on the authority of Prof. Krom, *De Sutrantraansche Periode der Javansche Geschiedenis*, 1922.

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The horned houses are mostly dwellings. They are oblong in shape, with the front on one of the long sides. ‘They are one storey high and stand several feet above the ground, on posts or piles. The walls are of wood or plaited bamboo, the front steps of wood, stucco-covered brick, or stone, the windows mere openings closed by means of shutters or screens, and the doors plain and usual.’ The larger and better types of these houses are furnished with elaborate porches at the entrance, and the ends of the main structure rise in curves and are highly carved. The roof, of which the peculiarity lies in its simplest form, ‘consists of a flexible ridge-pole running lengthwise off the house, supported only at the ends.’ The top line is curved with raised ends and represents a crescent.²

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² In India, in East Bengal in particular, the top line curves in a reverse manner, with a raised middle and the ends sloping downwards.

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‘A development of the primitive form is found in the houses with wings at the ends, each wing necessitating an additional horn or peak in the roof. The horns are covered with metal in best houses.’³ Facing each dwelling-house there are, as a rule, two small structures on high posts, which are used as rice barns or family granaries. ‘Their entrances, for better security from men, rats, and snakes, are high up under the gables of their horned roofs, and reached only by the aid of ladders.'

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³ Walcott, *Java and Her Neighbours*, pp. 314–315.

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‘In every (horned) house of the richer and more prosperous, the front door opens on an oblong hall or living room, of equal length with the middle section of the roof or that between the central pair of horns. To the rear are the sleeping rooms and kitchen, and when the houses have wings, there are a few steps at each end of the main apartment leading to raised sleeping rooms or platforms, shut off by curtains. The houses are all raised high above the ground on posts, and this lower space is often fenced in with lattice and used as a cellar and carriage-house, probably sometimes even as a stable, piggery, or chicken house.’¹

Linked texts (1)

Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa — Vālmīki, Sanskrit