Heritage Architecture Essay

Adriel Nathanael Purba

1906423220

Ratenggaro is a village located on the Southwest Sumba Regency, East Nusa Tenggara that are
both a home for its many indigenous people, as well as a popular tourist attraction. One of the
things that are documented are the many ceremonies and rituals that the people there regularly
do, from building their house, to honoring their ancestors. Uma Katoda Kataku was one of the
main house that are built in the village, its traditions have been an integral part of the community
for decades. The meaning of the uma is “house”, and in the past, a severed human head is placed
in the hole that for the main pillars to stand. The villagers always host a ritual along side the
building process of the new home that is being done, the ceremony is lead by an “imam” or
“Rato Marapu”.
The first stage at building the house starts with the 4 main pillars, which are called Ponga
Panginjetong, Ponga Kataku , Kertanda Handoka, and Kertanda Lambioro, that represents the
family system of a house. The pillars are always carved, as well as the body of the people living
there, and a giant ivory “bracelet” are also added as a symbol of the rich house owner. Later on,
Koro Kawimbi which are consisted of Ngandingingo, Dalong, ,Patenga Bokolo, Picako ,and
Lele is placed on top of the main columns. Then after the construction of columns and Koro
Kawimbi is finished, the house owner and the guests have a feast. The third stage is building and
attaching the skeleton of the tower that are consisted of Lawiri, Liku,and Witi Karimbioyo. This
construction process of the tower goes along side with the sacrifice of a rooster feet and a male
goat. It represents how the children or the new seeds will continue the tradition even though their
parents or the older generation has passed on.
The fourth stage, right after the main structural elements are finished, the “pinggangan atap”,
which are made out of Patenga Ripi, Usuk Bambu, and Lawiri Waiyo, are constructed by
bamboos that can reach over 15 m long and cut into pieces weeks before construction, all must
be done before dawn. All the parts are assembled by soaked and binded rattan straps, made all by
utilizing regular rattan straps (for the components that are light) and Kahikara straps (for the
main components). The fifth step is the addings of Tiang Luar that helps give structural support
to the outer part of the roof, and are consisted of Lele and Ponga Ripi. The sixth step is to build
the Bale – Bale part, where several structures called Patenga Roro are also built for structural
support. After this step, the construction process is brought to a halt, as the “Tarik Batu”
ceremony is commencing. This ritual represents the importance of both building a house and a
grave, that if the living has a “house”, than the dead also needs a “house”. This house for the
dead is also built so that the other families of the deceased can find the remains, instead of it
being lost in the ground if it’s only buried separately.
Finally, after this ceremony, the house is added completing parts such as Reng Bambu, Kadu
Uma, and Bale – Bale. After it is all done, a ceremony called “Tikam Babi” is performed as
a closing. The meat then will be distributed to the guests as Kalakar. As the entire construction
process is finished.
As can be seen in the process above, and in these series of videos, we follow well known
architects such as Umbu Billy and Popo Danes, as they travel to an area called Ratenggaro, in
search for a deeper knowledge of its culture, as well as spreading awareness of their heritage to
the public. They made a point that our culture and history are what gives us our identity, and is
our source of power. In the context of the Ratenggaro people itself, their houses and performed
rituals served as a reminder of their values such as legacy and familial relations. In a much
bigger context, these cultural houses represents our country’s ideology of “gotong royong” or
working together, just as how the house can only be built by working together.
Architect Yori Antar’s projects regarding this exemplifies the meaning of heritage, where we not
only preserve the past, but we also bring it forward to the future. We can see this in the
development of the village as a tourist attraction , where the houses are built using traditional
ways, but also has modern functions such as being a gallery that attracts visitors. Although he
also made a point to not make this experience as artificial for the tourists, but to invite them over
and let them experience being one of the native people of Ratenggaro. As a concluding point,
Yori Antar says that the key to this is the younger generation in continuing and preserving these
traditions. In the midst of the modern era, the young generation needs to protect their cultural
values, as it is the same as them protecting their very identity, and the legacy of the ancestors.