Tongkonan, perhaps is the most unique traditional house in the South East Asia (In my opinion, of course). The design belong the Toraja tribe, a Bugis native at Sulawesi island. Toraja name is derived from "To Riaja" literally means, highlander in Bugis language - most probably because Torajans are traditionally residing at the hilly and mountainous land at Southern Sulawesi. Like many natives group of East Indonesia, the Toraja were head-hunters and participants in inter-village raids; villages were thus located strategically on hill tops and were heavily fortified. The dutch colonial who saw these pagan Torajan as a potential Christian compared to other Bugis tribes of the lowland who already embraced Islam like Makassar, Mandar and Luwu, forced the tribe to move to the valleys for pacification and easier management. However, there were still significant numbers of Tongkonan remains with their ancestral religion, "Alu to Dulu" (literally means "Way of the Past").
There are three types of tongkonan which are classified according to their function in society. A tongkonan layuk ('grand tongkonan') or tongkonan pesio' aluk ('aluk maker') is the original ancestral home in which the aluk of a particular adat territory were established. The Grand Tongkonan is the seat of a kinship grouping that traces its descent from a single founding couple. It is the house of the highest authority and it is used as the center of government.[citation needed] Tongkonan according to its literal translation, is the place 'to sit' and it is the traditional centre of governance. Customarily people would assemble to sit in a place of historical significance to discuss and resolve matters of communal import. This site would be the seat of residence of the most respected member of the community. This home would thus be developed into a grand building.
The second type is tongkonan pekamberan, or tongkonan pekaindoran which belongs to the family group members and offspring of the founder. It is their duty to carry out local traditions (known as adat). The last one is tongkonan batu, which belongs to the ordinary family members. Traditionally, only the nobility could afford to build large tongkonan and the elaborate ceremonies associated with them.
Ordinary residences, known as banua are smaller, less decorated homes versions of tongkonan, through which families’ descent would also be traced. Generally speaking their occupants would be families of lower social status, families that once constituted part of a greater family’s fiefdom. These homes may also be converted into tongkonan after several generations of the same line have lived in them and after suitable rites have been carried out, but due to prohibitive costs, this has traditionally been rare. The former exclusivity of the tongkonan is also diminishing as many Toraja commoners find employment in other parts of Indonesia and remit funds back to their families, enabling in some cases the construction of larger Tongkonan by commoners.
According to the Torajan legends, the first Tongkonan was built in heaven by Puang Matua, the Creator. It was built on four poles and the roof was made of Indian cloth. When the first Torajan ancestor descended to earth, he imitated the heavenly house and held a big ceremony. Another story from Torajan is that their ancestor was seafarer. They arrive from the north by a large boat but caught in a fierce storm. Their boats were so badly damaged that they later used them as roofs for their new houses. This legend is more likely to be relevant. Despite distinguish in design, tongkonan and the Minang's Gadang house share mutual motive of buffalo's horn roof. Minang and the rest of Sumatran Malay are well known to have "merantau" custom in which the boys will start their journey to find new land upon reaching puberty. The ancestor of Toraja people should have been one of these perantau in the past. Like Toraja, Minang peoples including Batak and Mandailing practised animism until 17th century when one of three Raja Tigo Nan Selo accepted Islam in Sumpur Kudus.
The tongkonan is traditionally seen as the navel of the universe and a miniature cosmos; and in those some regions, it is the meeting place of the north-south and east-west axes. It faces north, to the “head of the sky” where Puang Matua resides. The alang, or rice granaries, across the yard, face south or the posterior, as this is the direction from which trouble and disease exit. In some regions, the house is entered via a door on the northern end of the east wall, and in others, at the western end of the north wall. A person, thus, walks towards the southwest or southeast as they enter. The tongkonan is vertically divided into three levels: the attic where the regalia and family heirlooms are kept; the living area; and the space under the floor where domesticated animals are kept. These compare with the upper world, the middle world, and the under world.
A large tongkonan can take a crew of ten about three months to build and another month to carve and paint the outside walls. Bamboo scaffold is erected for the duration of the construction phase. Traditionally tongue and groove joinery has been used without the need for nails. A number of components are pre-fabricated with final assembly in-situ. Although built on a log-cabin style sub-structure, tongkonan are set on large vertical wooden piles with mortises cut into their ends to grasp the horizontal tie beams. The tops of the piles are notched for the longitudinal and transverse beams that support the upper structure. The remainder of the sub-structure is assembled in-situ. The transverse beams are fitted into the notched piles, and then notched to fit the longitudinal beams. Side panels, which are often decorated, are then formed on these main horizontal beams. The distinctive curved roof shape is obtained through a series of vertical hanging spars supporting upwardly angled beams. A vertical free-standing pole supports that portion of the ridge pole extending beyond the ridge purlin. Bamboo staves bound with rattan are assembled transversely in layers and tied longitudinally to the rafters forming the roof. The under roofing is of bamboo culm. Wooden boards laid over thick hardwood joists form the floors. Nowadays, zinc roofing sheets and nails are increasingly used.
In larger Tana Toraja villages, houses are arranged in a row, side by side, with their roofs on a north-south alignment with the front gable facing north. Opposite each house is the family's rice barn, or alang customarily a symbol of family wealth, and together they form a second row of parallel buildings. Houses of the Mamasa Toraja, however, are orientated to the direction of the river with their rice barns aligned perpendicular to the house.
