Wacana, Vol. 12 No.

1 (April 2010): 101—114

The myth about the origin

of the Karo House
JUARA R. GINTING

Abstract
The Karo people in North Sumatra (Indonesia) consider areas in the Karo regency
and those in other regencies as part of Taneh Karo (the Karolands), despite the fact
that these areas comprise different administrative territories. This paper focuses
on how the idea of Taneh Karo is articulated in a special Karo myth. Scholarly
research has discovered that the notion of Taneh Karo originated in pre-colonial
times, but an analysis of a local myth which established the concept of Taneh
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it endeavours to comprehend the traditional ways of life of the Karo people,
and it is a crucial attempt to map out the inter-group relations in the Karo area,
where the Acehnese, the Batak, and the Malay people take part. It is interesting
to note that the myth of Karo has positioned the Karo community and land in a
distinctive site within the network of inter-related groups. This is precisely the
position which would determine the formation of the Karolands.
Keywords
Myth, ritual, inauguration, performance, wedding, inter-group, clan, patrilineal,
regency, domain, pre-colonial, network.

Introduction
This paper discusses how a Karo myth expresses the concept of the Karolands
(Taneh Karo). At present, Taneh Karo forms part of the province of North
Sumatra (Indonesia). Some of the original Taneh Karo territory is now situated
in the Karo regency (Kabupaten Karo) and the rest has been split up among
the regencies of Simalungun, Dairi, Langkat and Deliserdang as well as the
municipality of Medan (see Figure 1). In spite of the incorporation of the lands
into different governmental administrative territories, Karo people still feel
that these parts are related to each other as Taneh Karo. Karo people consider

JUARA R. GINTING is a lecturer in Cultural Anthropology at USU (Universitas Sumatera

Utara), Medan. He obtained his MA from Leiden University, the Netherlands (1994). He studied
at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster, Germany on a grant from DAAD (1995).
His research on the Karo of North Sumatra focuses on a wide range of themes. Juara R. Ginting
may be contacted at: [email protected].
© 2010 Faculty of Humanities, University of Indonesia
102 Wacana, Vol. 12 No. 1 (April 2010)

the upper parts of the Langkat and Deliserdang regencies as well as the upper
parts of Medan municipality as Karo Jahe (Downstream Karo) and those parts
of Taneh Karo that have become part of the territory of the regencies of Karo,
Simalungun and Dairi as Karo Gugung (Karo Highlands).

Figure 1. Province North Sumatra.

That the concept of Taneh Karo can be traced back to pre-colonial times is
shown in scholarly literature1 as well as in a Karo myth entitled Turi-turin
Rumah Si Pitu Ruang (The myth of the house of seven spaces). While I have
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on the Karo house (1989-1990) has stimulated me to make a special study of
this myth.
The research of the myth started when we investigated a Karo ritual called
putar, performed during the inauguration of a house. Putar3 is a body paint
that is mainly put on the face, but sometimes on the hands and feet as well.
The paint is made of a mixture of rice powder, water and kunyit, put on one’s
skin using a stalk of the lulang shrub (Ind. jarak) as a pencil. When we asked
1
See Anderson 1971 [1826]; Halewijn 1876; Ginting 2003.
2
Field research was conducted together with Beatriz van der Goes from Leiden
University.
3
Literally means turning around.
 JUARA R. GINTING, The myth about the origin of the Karo House 103
about the relevance of this ritual to the inauguration of a house, most of our
informants said that it can be traced to the origin of the Karo house (rumah)
as described in the myth of the House of Seven Spaces.
$OWKRXJK , NQHZ WKH WH[W RI WKH P\WK YHU\ ZHOO LW ZDV GLIÀFXOW IRU PH WR
understand this explanation. It forced us to make a thorough study of the myth.
We started by recording the myth from different storytellers and asking the
storytellers what they considered to be the relevance of the myth.
In this paper I examine the relevance of the myth. I argue that the myth is
not only relevant for understanding traditional ways of life as practiced by the
Karo until the present day, but that it is even more important to inter-group
relations in the region involving in particular the Aceh, Batak as well as the
Malay people living on the east coast and on the coast of Sumatra. The myth
marks a difference between the lands oriented towards the western oceanic
shore with the port of Barus as its centre, and those oriented towards the
eastern shore with the port of Deli as its centre. It places Karo society and land
in a special position in this inter-group network, a position which becomes
the outset of the Karolands.

The myth
Beru Buaten (BB), the daughter of Sibayak Ajinembah (SA), went to collect
ÀUHZRRG LQ WKH IRUHVW QHDU WKH YLOODJH RI $MLQHPEDK 7KHUH VKH PHW 5DMD
Umang (RU). RU proposed to marry her. She agreed but on the condition
that RU would build a house of seven spaces for her father, SA. RU agreed
with the condition.
Several days later, the inhabitants of Ajinembah heard the sounds of
the construction of house during the night. The sounds indicated that many
people were working to build the house. However, they could not see the
building process. The same sounds were repeated for seven nights. On the
day following the seventh night, the inhabitants of Ajinembah saw a newly
built house: The house of seven spaces. They realized now that the sounds
they had heard were made by umang (half human, half spirit) that had built
the house.
The time of the inauguration of the house coincided with the wedding
day of BB and RU. However, the inauguration of the house and the wedding
were in different places. Inside the house, the bride-giving party performed
the inauguration of the house, while the bride-taking party performed the
wedding outside the house with a Toba Batak orchestra (gendang teba). SA’s
wife who was inside the house with the bride-giving party was interested
in the orchestra and came to see the wedding. Then the bride-taking party
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the top of Mountain Sibuaten and live there till today.
Now, the inauguration of the house turned into chaos. The guests entered
the house through the downstream entrance. They took a lunch, dinner or
breakfast and then left the house through the upstream entrance. This was
done repeatedly for several days, so that SA had to slaughter all his cattle to
104 Wacana, Vol. 12 No. 1 (April 2010)

feed the guests. The only cattle left in the village of Ajinembah were a pair
of male and female Nanggalutu buffaloes owned by his son, Raja Sori (RS).
These buffaloes were huge. Eight people could sit on their back while playing
chess. In despair, SA slaughtered the male Nanggalutu buffalo and offered
the meat to the guests.
RS was very angry hearing this. He took his knife and planned to kill his
father. But his mother prevented this. She sent him to his mother’s brother
who was the king of Raya. On his way to Raya, RS rode the female Nanggalutu
buffalo, accompanied by seven male servants. On the road, the servants
assaulted RS. They forced him to step down from the back of the buffalo and
to be their servant instead of the other way around.
The king of Raya received the so-called princes as his sister’s sons and
RS as their servant. But he wondered why the servant behaved like a prince
and the princes like a servant. He asked the so-called princes to unsheathe
the knife left behind by SA some years ago. None of them was able to do it.
When the king of Raya asked RS to try it too, he could easily unsheathe the
knife because it was his father’s knife.
Now the king of Raya was sure which one of the men was his sister’s son.
He planned to marry off RS to one of his seven daughters. The daughters
competed with each other for RS’s attention. Through divination, the youngest
daughter was appointed to marry RS.
The king of Raya asked RS what would be the preferred part of the domain
of Raya he wished to receive as a wedding gift. RS answered: “The domain
should be as large as the land circled by this rope”. He showed a rope made
of the skin of the female Nanggalutu buffalo. Apparently he had killed the
buffalo and twined a rope from its skin. The land encircled by the rope was
as large as the entire domain of Raya.
Since then the land of Raya became the domain of the Seragih clan founded
by RS. Before this, the land of Raya was the domain of the Purba clan. The
former king of Raya, who was RS’s wife’s father, belonged to the Purba clan.
Then the Purba clan moved out and established itself a new domain.
Now let us return to Ajinembah. The chaos did not come to an end. SA
had nothing left to be offered as meat to the guests. He went to a bathing place
located at the bank of the river that crossed Ajinembah. He washed his face.
The water surface mirrored the image of Sibayak Barus Jahe (SBJ) standing
behind him. He was accompanied by his sister who was also his lover. Because
of this forbidden love, they had been banned from Barus.
SBJ asked SA about the worries he had as these could be told by the look
on his face. SA informed him about the inauguration of the house that had
turned into a chaos. SBJ promised to solve the problem by means of ritual.
SBJ made tepung tawar and applied it as putar upon each guest who entered
the house through the downstream entrance. The reaction was remarkable. As
if just woken up from a deep sleep, the guests suddenly realized there were
many more things to do in daily life than repeatedly entering the house for
breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. SA was very thankful to SBJ and accepted
 JUARA R. GINTING, The myth about the origin of the Karo House 105
him as his kalimbubu (bride giver). He allowed SBJ to found a part of Si Pitu
Kuta urung4 into the domain of Sibayak Barus Jahe. All Karo houses trace
their origin to this myth.

Geographical setting of the myth

The myth states different places: Ajinembah, Mountain Sibuaten, Raya, Si Pitu
Kuta, and Barus Jahe. All these places still exist today and are well known to
most Karo. Below I shall describe them in order to give a clearer insight into
the circumstances of the myth.

The village of Ajinembah

Today, the Karo mostly know Ajinembah as one of villages (kuta) situated in
the district of Tigapanah (Kecamatan Tigapanah) (Karo regency). Tigapanah
is the main village of this district.
A Karo village (kuta) constitutes of an area called a rumah kuta (literally;
a village’s house). People may build different houses (rumah) as well as rice
granaries (sapo page), charnel houses (geriten), sleeping places for unmarried
men (jambur), and rice pounding places (lesung) within the rumah kuta. A
bamboo fence usually encircles these buildings in order to set the rumah kuta
apart from the rest of the village’s land.
Traditionally, people may only build customary houses (rumah adat)
within the rumah kuta. A Karo customary house consists of different sections
(jabu), the number of which may vary from four, six, eight, twelve, sixteen
to twenty four. Each of the sections is assigned to a family (also called jabu)
(see Picture 1).

Picture 1. The rumah kuta of Dokan village; Photograph by the author,

1990.

4
Urung is a particular land founded by a clan (merga).
106 Wacana, Vol. 12 No. 1 (April 2010)

Si Pitu Kuta “Urung”

During the colonial time, Ajinembah became the capital village of an urung
named Si Pitu Kuta Ajinembah.
As said above, urung is a particular land founded by a clan. An urung
encompasses different villages. Most of the villages in the same urung are
founded by the clan that founded the urung, but other clans may found a
village within the urung as well. The other clans must relate as anak beru or
senina to the founder of the urung. Anak beru refers to one’s bride taker and
senina to someone else who has the same relation as one self toward a third
person. One and his/her senina relate as bride taker or bride giver (kalimbubu)
to the third person.
A Karo clan (merga) is patrilineal and patrilocal. People belonging to same
clan relate to each other as sembuyak (same womb). Marriage within same clan
is strictly forbidden. Different clans may originate in the same clan by means
of patrilineal descent-line, but they relate to each other as senina since they
represent different urung. Karolands are divided into the domains of different
urung each of which represents the clan that founded it.
Si Pitu Kuta Urung mentioned in the myth is one among other Karo
urung. The appearance of this urung in the literature is quite unique. Some
earliest literature on the Karo mentions Barus Jahe as the capital village of
Si Pitu Kuta Urung founded by the Barus clan. Later literature on the Karo
seems to realize that Si Pitu Kuta is the name of a land encompassing three
different urung: Si Pitu Kuta Barus Jahe Urung founded by the Barus clan, Si
Pitu Kuta Tongging Urung founded by the Munte Tongging clan and Si Pitu
Kuta Ajinembah Urung founded by the Munte Ajinembah clan. Barus Jahe,
Tongging, and Ajinembah are respectively the names of the capital villages
of these urung, which differentiate the urung from each other although they
carry the same name of Si Pitu Kuta.
Our myth’s text describes Si Pitu Kuta Urung as centred in Ajinembah
village. After SBJ had made an end to the chaos in The House of Seven Spaces,
SA offered a part of Si Pitu Kuta Urung to be founded by SBJ into the domain
of Sibayak Barus Jahe.

Sibayak Barus Jahe

Sibayak refers to a land encompassing different urung. The chief of the land is
also titled sibayak. Therefore, Sibayak Barus Jahe may mean a particular land
or the chief of this land depending on the context. Barus Jahe is the name of
the land which derived from the name of its capital village. Barus Jahe thus
becomes the names of a village, an urung and a sibayak.
It is quite interesting that the myth gives the title sibayak to Sibayak
Ajinembah (SA) though Ajinembah never appears as a sibayak land. During
the colonial time, Ajinembah became the capital village of Si Pitu Kuta
Ajinembah Urung. The chief of this urung was titled raja urung just like other
urung chiefs.
The title sibayak JLYHQ WR 6LED\DN $MLQHPEDK LQVLQXDWHV WKH VSHFLÀF SRVLWLRQ
 JUARA R. GINTING, The myth about the origin of the Karo House 107
of Si Pitu Kuta Urung among other Karo urung. As an urung becomes part of
a sibayak land, the chief of an urung (raja urung) has a lower position than the
chief of a sibayak land (sibayak). The myth seems not to place Sibayak Ajinembah
in a lower position than other Karo sibayak. I will return to this.

Karo-Simalungun relationship
The myth describes the movement of Raja Sori (RS) from Ajinembah to Raya
after his father had slaughtered the male Nanggalutu buffalo. This movement
connects not only the lands of Ajinembah and Raya as bride-taking and
bride-giving parties; it also connects the Karo to the Simalungun in terms
of inter-clan relationship. Raja Sori becomes the ancestor of the Seragih clan
and replaces his mother’s brother as the chief of nagori Raya. From then on
the land of nagori Raya no longer belongs to the Purba clan, it has become the
land of the Seragih clan.
The Simalungun term nagori refers to an area comparable to the Karo
term urung. The region named nagori Raya is situated within Simalungun
with Pematang Raya as the main village. Conversely, the urung named Si
Pitu Kuta is situated in Taneh Karo.

Mount Sibuaten
Mount Sibuaten is the highest mountain in Taneh Karo. The village of
Ajinembah is located at the foot of this mountain. According to the myth, Raja
Umang (RU) and Beru Buaten (BB) are living on the top of this mountain.
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juma) or starting point (pemenan). This spot becomes the locus of the rice spirit
called Beru Dayang. Before starting to sow rice, Karo farmers offer a blade of
betel leaf on this spot.5
All over Taneh Karo, people must direct that betel leaf to Mount Sibuaten.
However, there is a difference in the direction of the betel leaf between East
and West Karo. In east Taneh Karo, the stalk of the betel leaf points towards
Mount Sibuaten. In west Taneh Karo, it is the tip of the betel leaf that points
towards Mount Sibuaten.
A similar contrast occurs with respect to the traditional Karo customary
house (rumah adat). The house has two entrances connected by a gulley (labah
or anak lau). The gulley constitutes a line connecting the jahe and julu sides of
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downstream and upstream parts of a river that crosses the lands of a village.
In west Taneh Karo, Jahe and Julu refer to the direction of sunset and sunrise,
which are west and east.
Mount Sibuaten has a crucial position in those contrasts. The mountain
looks like two mountains that are joined as it has two tops. One of the tops is
situated in eastern Taneh Karo, the other in western Taneh Karo. The name
5
See Van der Goes 1997.
108 Wacana, Vol. 12 No. 1 (April 2010)

sibuaten indicates its position in connecting eastern and western Taneh Karo.
It literally means "to take each other".

West and east coasts of Sumatra

The Karo also consider the myth about the origin of the Karo house as the
myth about the origin of the Barus clan by telling how Sibayak Barus Jahe
(SBJ) becomes the ancestor of this clan who founds the land named Sibayak
Barus Jahe.
The domain of Sibayak Barus Jahe is not restricted to the Karo Highlands.
It extends to the eastern part of Downstream Karo (Karo Jahe), which in the
literature is usually referred to as Upper Deli. The part of the land of Sibayak
Barus Jahe that extends into Upper Deli is called Urung Sinembah. The name,
reminding of Ajinembah, indicates that the domain of Si Pitu Kuta extends
into Upper Deli since the domain of Sibayak Barus Jahe represents a part of
the domain of Si Pitu Kuta.
Deli is a Malay kingdom on the east coast of Sumatra. The domain of Deli
is divided into Downstream Deli (Deli Hilir) and Upstream Deli (Deli Hulu).
Downstream Deli consists of four Malay kejuruan and Upstream Deli of four
Karo urung. Kejuruan is a Malay term comparable to Karo urung.
According to the myth, Sibayak Barus Jahe (SBJ) came originally from
Barus, a Malay kingdom on the west coast of Sumatra. The inclusion of Urung
Sinembah into the domain of Deli is relevant for the position of Ajinembah
in a trade network involving the Barus and Deli Malay kingdoms. It points
at the camphor-benzoic routes that existed between the eight and fourteenth
centuries, connecting the interior Batak domains to the ports of Barus on the
west coast and Kota Cina in Deli on the east coast, from where the goods were
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the port of Deli rose in importance due to the production of black pepper
that was cultivated at Upstream Deli by Karo farmers. The Karo consider
Upstream Deli as Downstream Karo. The myth indicates how Si Pitu Kuta
Urung became included within this larger network.

The order of the traditional Karo houses

Raja Berempat
A traditional Karo house consists of several (jabu), from four (empat jabu), six
(enem jabu), eight (waluh jabu), twelve (sepuludua jabu), sixteen (sepuluenem jabu)
to twenty four (dua puluh empat jabu 7KHVH VHFWLRQV DUH FODVVLÀHG HLWKHU DV
corner or as central sections. The four sections situated in the four corners of
the house are called corner sections (jabu suki), and the rest are central sections
(jabu tengah). As the central sections may be considered to be part of one of the
four corner sections, all traditional houses represent the house of four sections
(rumah si empat jabu), in spite of the variation in the number of sections.
The four corner sections are named “the base of the tree” (bena kayu), “the
top of the tree” (ujung kayu), “the other side of the base of the tree” (lepar
 JUARA R. GINTING, The myth about the origin of the Karo House 109
bena kayu), and “the other side of the top of the tree” (lepar ujung kayu). They
are assigned to four families (jabu) that represent four different clans. How
these relate to each other is expressed by the terms sembuyak (the clan of the
founder), anak beru (the clan of the founder’s bride taker), kalimbubu (the clan
of the founder’s bride giver) and senina (the clan that has same relation as the
clan of the founder towards a third clan). The section of “the base of the tree”
is assigned to the sembuyak, the section of “the top of the tree” to the anak beru,
the section of “the other side of the base of the tree” to the kalimbubu and the
section of “the other side of the top of the tree” to the senina (Figure 2).

Figure 2. The four sections of the Karo house.

This relationship between clans was also applied in the institution called raja
berempat (four kings). There were four different institutions of raja berempat
in Karo society: 1) the raja berempat of the Eastern Karo Highlands, 2) the raja
berempat of the Western Karo Highlands, 3) the raja berempat of the Deli Malay
kingdom, 4) the raja berempat of the Langkat Malay kingdom.
The raja berempat of the Eastern Karo Highlands consisted of Sibayak Barus
Jahe (Barus clan), Sibayak Lingga (Sinulingga clan), Sibayak Sarinembah
(Milala clan), and Sibayak Suka (Suka clan). The raja berempat of the Western
Karo Highlands consisted of Sibayak Kutabuluh (Kutabuluh clan), Sibayak
Bangun Mulia (Bangun clan), Sibayak Perbesi (Sebayang clan), and Sibayak
Taneh Pinem (Pinem clan). The four sibayak of one raja berempat relate to each
other in terms of sembuyak, anak beru, kalimbubu and senina. In this way, each
of the Eastern and Western Karo Highlands represents a customary house.
Each of the raja berempat of the Deli and Langkat Malay kingdoms consisted
of two Karo urung and of two Malay kejuruan. The sultan of Deli became the
chief of the raja berempat of the Deli Malay kingdom and the sultan of Langkat
was chief of the raja berempat of the Langkat Malay kingdom. Like the raja
berempat of the Eastern and Western Karo Highlands, the urung and kejuruan of
these raja berempat relate to each other in terms of sembuyak, anak beru, kalimbubu
and senina. Though these terms are apparently of Karo origin, the families of
the Deli and Langkat sultanates still use them in their rituals.
110 Wacana, Vol. 12 No. 1 (April 2010)

East and West Karolands

The raja berempat of the Eastern and Western Karo-Highlands occurred not
only for Eastern and Western Karo-Highlands. They represent two houses
that encompass the entire Karolands. This can be related to the division of
Karolands into the Karo Highlands (Karo Gugung) and Downstream Karo
(Karo Jahe).
Karo Highlands and Downstream Karo relate to each other as respectively
representing the place of return (kemulihen) and beyond the village’s house
(perlajangen). The same relation occurs between the village’s house (rumah kuta)
and village’s lands (taneh kuta) of a same village. Rituals performed within the
village’s house relate people to each other by means of the terms sembuyak,
anak beru, kalimbubu and senina. Conversely, rituals performed in the village’s
lands relate people to each other as a clan’s people.
That relation between the village’s house and the village’s lands occurs in
every Karo village situating either in the Karo Highlands or in Downstream
Karo since each Karo village is marked by a village’s house surrounded by
an agricultural-herding area representing the village’s lands. It is applied to
the relation between the Karo Highlands and Downstream Karo not to state
the Karo Highlands as the homeland of the Karo and Downstream Karo as
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with the relation between urung (see below).
There are four Karo urung in Eastern Downstream-Karo and four other
Karo urung in Western Downstream-Karo. Two of the four Karo urung in
Eastern Downstream-Karo include within the raja berempat of the Deli Malay-
kingdom, and two of the Karo urung in Western Downstream-Karo within
the raja berempat of the Langkat Malay-kingdom. However, there is no direct
inter-relationship among the Karo Downstream urung. Relations are based on
their inclusion within the raja berempat of Eastern Karo-Highlands or the raja
berempat of Western Karo-Highlands. It corresponds to a mythical idea that
two countries (negeri) share the Karolands: Sun-rising (Negeri Kepultaken) and
Sun-setting Countries (Negeri Kesunduten). The raja berempat of Eastern-Karo
Highlands represents the Sun-rising Country and the raja berempat of Western-
Karo Highlands the Sun-setting Country. Like a Karo village, each of the
countries constitutes a house and a land. Eastern-Karo Highlands represents
the house of the Sun-rising Country and Eastern Downstream-Karo its land.
Western-Karo Highlands represents the house of the Sun-setting Country and
Western Downstream-Karo its land.
That mythical idea needs not to be confronted with the fact that every Karo
village constitutes a village’s house and a village’s land so the differentiation
of the house from the land occurs everywhere in the Karolands. We need to
place it in the pre-colonial context when the Karo produced black pepper and
millet at a large scale in Downstream Karo. Black pepper and millet were not
produced for their own consumption, but traded to the world outside. They
sold black pepper particularly to Malacca and millet to European and Arabic
shippers who needed millet for their food. The farmers of these products were
 JUARA R. GINTING, The myth about the origin of the Karo House 111
not mainly Karo inhabitants of Downstream Karo. Several inhabitants of the
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Karo. These Karo Highlanders continued to reside in villages in the Karo
Highlands although they mostly dwelled in Downstream Karo.
Each of Downstream Karo’s urung relates as senina to a Karo Highland’s
urung so they have access to a Karo Highland’s raja berempat. Downstream Karo
urung relate to each other following their inclusion within a Karo Highland’s
raja berempat. In this way, the raja berempat of Eastern Karo-Highlands and
that of Western Karo-Highlands respectively represent Sun-rising and Sun-
setting Countries encompassing the entire Karolands.

The origin of the Karo Raja Berempat

The raja berempat of the Eastern Karo-Highlands is constituted of the Sibayak
of Barus Jahe, Lingga, Suka, and Sarinembah. Sibayak Barus Jahe is the main
point of reference in the relation between these four sibayak, which makes him
the main point of reference in the relation between the urung of Eastern Karo.
Likewise, the raja berempat of the Western Karo-Highlands is constituted of
the Sibayak of Kutabuluh, Bangun Mulia, Perbesi, and Taneh Pinem. Sibayak
Kutabuluh becomes here the main point of reference in the relation between
these four sibayak, and as such he is the main point of reference in relation
between the urung of Western Karo.
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relation to the Si Pitu Kuta Ajinembah urung. According to the myth, Sibayak
Ajinembah offered a part of the land of the Si Pitu Kuta Urung to Sibayak
Barus Jahe. The position of Sibayak Barus Jahe, as the main point of reference
in the relation between the urung of Eastern Karo, indicates at a ´the part to
a whole´ relation between the Si Pitu Kuta Urung and Eastern Karo. As still
can be observed today, the Si Pitu Kuta Urung is located in Eastern Karo by
which it stands out as a part of Eastern Karo. However, as delineated by the
myth, this part represents Eastern Karo as a whole.
Sibayak Kutabuluh also relates as a part to the Si Pitu Kuta Urung. This
relation can be traced to the myth about the origin of Sibayak Kutabuluh.
According to the myth, the founder of Sibayak Kutabuluh stems from
Kacinambun village. This village is located in the land of the Si Pitu Kuta
Ajinembah urung. The village has been founded by the Kacinambun clan who
relate as anak beru (bride taker) to Sibayak Ajinembah. The myth about the
origin of Sibayak Kutabaluh delineates Sibayak Kutabuluh to relate to Sibayak
Ajinembah in a similar way as Kacinambun village relates to the Si Pitu Kuta
Urung, which also constitutes a ‘the part to a whole’ relation. As Sibayak
Kutabuluh is the main point of reference in the relation between the urung of
Western Karo, West Karo also relates as part to the Si Pitu Kuta Urung.
This shows us that the Si Pitu Kuta Urung is a part of the Karolands that
represents the Karolands as a whole. It relates East Karo and West Karo to
each other in representing two different parts of the Si Pitu Kuta Urung.
112 Wacana, Vol. 12 No. 1 (April 2010)

The archaeology of the myth

The foundation stones

Neither the myth nor the Karo are able to present information about what the
house of seven spaces might have been. In spite of this, most of the Karo know
that the foundation stones (palas) of the house can still be found in Ajinembah
village. The foundation stones stand side by side in an order similar to the
foundation stones of the Karo customary houses (rumah adat). However, the
foundation stones are natural stones and far larger in size than those of the
Karo customary houses. One may wonder how the stones could have reached
the place, as there is nothing nearby that could have been the source of the
stones (see Picture 2 and Figure 3).

Picture 2. The foundation stones of the Figure 3. The foundation stones of a Karo
house of seven spaces; Photograph by customary house.
the author.

According to the myth, the house of seven spaces was built by umang under
the order of Raja Umang (the chief of umang). To the Karo, umang are “half
human, half spirit”. They are mostly invisible to the eyes of human beings, but,
in some cases, they may show themselves to human beings. The body of an
adult umang is as large as the body
of a human child. The feet of umang
are turned backwards so that their
footprints indicate an inversion
in the direction of walking. They
prefer to live in the ‘old forests’
covering the top of mountains.
They live like humans in families
of parents and children. Their
houses are carved out of stone.
Normal human beings cannot see
the houses they are still using, but
Picture 3. The entrance of Gua Umang; people are able to see the houses
Photograph by the author.
 JUARA R. GINTING, The myth about the origin of the Karo House 113
that are out of use. Several of such stone caves (gua umang) can be found in
the Karolands, but not beyond it (see Picture 3).
8S WR WRGD\ QR DUFKDHRORJLFDO VWXG\ KDV LGHQWLÀHG WKH DJH RI WKH IRXQGDWLRQ
stones neither the age of the carved-stone caves called gua umang.

The Karo-Gayo connection

According to the myth, Sibayak Ajinembah’s son had a pair of Nanggalutu
buffaloes. Another version of the myth expresses that the giant water buffaloes
stem from the Gayolands (Southern Aceh). A wide ravine connecting Bambil
(a place in the Gayolands) and Ajinembah is said to be the trace of the giant
water buffaloes that repeatedly visited Ajinembah and vice versa. Many
villages located along the ravine track are founded by the Munte clan including
those that are part of the Gayolands. Therefore, Gayo people who belong
to the Gayo clan of Munte trace their origin to the Karolands. On the other
hand, some members of the Karo clan of Munte trace their origin to Bambil.
7KH QDPH RI %DPELO LV XVHG DV D PDOH ÀUVW QDPH DPRQJ WKH .DUR PHPEHUV
of the Munte clan.
The giant water buffaloes point at another network of the Si Pitu Kuta
Urung, connecting as such Karo and Gayo to each other. The network becomes
manifest in the pre-colonial trade of water buffaloes from the Gayolands to Deli
via the Karolands, using the ravine as the main road. The house of seven spaces
(rumah si pitu ruang FRQÀUPV WKLV QHWZRUN DV WKH QDPH LV D UHIHUHQFH WR WKH
Gayo’s ume si pitu rue (the Gayo's pronounciation of rumah si pitu ruang).

In between Batak and Malay

The inauguration of the house takes place at the same time as the wedding of
Raja Umang (RU) and Beru Buaten (BB), but in different places. The former
belongs to the bride-giving party, and the later to the bride-taking party.
During the wedding, the bride-taking party plays a teba orchestra. This
passage sets Si Pitu Kuta Urung apart from the Batak. Teba is a Karo term for
what we know now as the Batak. The bride-taking party stopped their ritual
when the bride’s mother came to the wedding. They left the wedding at an
incomplete stage.
The incompleteness of the wedding causes the inauguration of the house
WR UHPDLQ XQÀQLVKHG ,W ZDV 6LED\DN %DUXV -DKH 6%- ZKR FRXOG ÀQLVK WKH
inauguration of the house by performing the putar. The same kunyit (Curcuma
domestica) coloured rice-paste is known as tepung tawar among the Malay.
They use tepung tawar to welcome a married couple into the house. The house
members print the mixture onto the palms of the couple’s hands. Among the
Karo, the paste aims to separate members of a new house from those of their
former house in marking the mixture on their cheeks and forehead. If applied
on feet and hands it is never on the inside. According to the Karo, putar roots
in the Malay tradition, but the word putar (turning around) indicates an
inversion of the Malay tradition. This can be traced to an earlier passage of
the myth that indicates the inclusion of Si Pitu Kuta Urung within the Deli
114 Wacana, Vol. 12 No. 1 (April 2010)

Malay-kingdom.
The chaotic situation at the inauguration of the house causes a separation
of Si Pitu Kuta Urung from the Batak. The putar brings a new order to the
house, but reverses Si Pitu Kuta Urung from the Malay kingdom. It delineates
the Karolands to locate in between the lands of the Batak and the Malay.

Conclusion
The myth states the special position of the Si Pitu Kuta Urung, the differentiation
of Karolands into villages, urung and sibayak, as also the division of the lands
into east and west Karo, which is applied by the people in the orientation of
their settlements and the relation between the settlements. The foundation
stones of the house of seven spaces in Ajinembah village connect its mythical
perception to the practice of house building and rice cultivation.
As delineated by the myth, the special position of Si Pitu Kuta Urung can
be traced to its position in representing the Karolands as a whole. Although
Si Pitu Kuta Urung is a part of the Karolands it represents the Karolands as a
whole towards the surrounding world such as the Batak, Malay, Simalungun
and the Gayo. In representing the Karolands as a whole, the other parts of
Karolands are considered as parts of Si Pitu Kuta Urung.

References
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