Black & White Batak House

This is another shot I took of a Batak house on the shores of Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia. A previous shot of another house was shown in an earlier blog. For this image I post-processed to black and white using Silver Efex Pro 2 and this really brings out a lot of the details and tones of the old wooden building and adds a historical look to the finished image.

Batak Christian Church, Lake Toba

The area around Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Indonesia is predominantly Christian rather than Muslim and you can see many lovely Batak Christian churches on the banks of the lake like this one.

The Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP), which translates into the Batak Christian Protestant Church, is the largest Protestant denomination in Indonesia, with a baptized membership of 4,178,256. Its present leader is the Ephorus (or Bishop) Rev. Dr.Bonar Napitupulu.

It was founded in the 1880s by Dr. Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen, of the German Rhenish Missionary Society, who worked in the District of Tapanuli in Tarutung, North Sumatra. In 1930 it became the first independent self-governing Christian body in what was then the Dutch East Indies. Tarutung and the Batak region remain the stronghold for the HKBP in the mainly Muslim nation of Indonesia, although worshippers are found throughout the country.

Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of ethnic groups found in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The term is used to include the Toba, Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Angkola and Mandailing, each of which are distinct but related groups with distinct, albeit related, languages and customs. Occasionally it is also used to include the Alas people of Central/Southern Aceh, but usually only as relates to language groups.

Hot Dog - Batak Style

Riding my motorbike through a remote part of Sumatra near Lake Toba I came through this tiny village where they were busy cooking up a local delicacy. I thought at first this was the famous roast suckling pig which the dominant Christian population eat, but no, it was our favourite 4-legged friend that was on the menu today. What amused me about this picture was the dog way in the background looking on and wondering when his turn was!
In Indonesia, eating dog meat is usually associated with people from the Batak Toba culture, who cook a traditional dish named saksang that is like a dog-meat stew. Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of ethnic groups found in the highlands of North Sumatra, Indonesia. Their heartland lies to the west of Medan centred on Lake Toba. Today the Batak are mostly Christian with a Muslim minority.
Around the shores of Lake Toba you can see numerous villages, many with Christian churches, and sometimes you may come across local villagers preparing a dog to eat. After killing the dog the fur is burnt off in a fire and removed prior to cooking the meat.

Batak House

Most of the people who live around Lake Toba are ethnically Bataks. Traditional Batak houses are noted for their distinctive roofs (which curve upwards at each end, as a boat's hull does) and their colorful decor. Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of ethnic groups found in the highlands of North Sumatra, Indonesia. Their heartland lies to the west of Medan centred on Lake Toba. In fact the "Batak" include several groups with distinct, albeit related, languages and customs (adat). While the term is used to include the Toba, Karo, Pakpak-Dairi, Simalungun, Angkola and Mandailing. Occasionally it is also used to include the Alas-Kluet people of Central/Southern Aceh, but usually only as relates to language groups.