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Gondang, Gods and Ancestors. Religious Implications of Batak Ceremonial Music

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2019

Artur Simon
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Extract

The Batak live in the countryside around Lake Toba in Northern Sumatra. According to linguistic and some other cultural differences they are divided into the subgroups Toba, Karo, Simalungun, Pakpak and Angkola/Mandailing. All Batak are obliged to the same adat, the traditional code of social behaviour which governs the relations among the three kinship groups (Simon 1982, 1984, 1987). The old-religious beliefs and customs of the Batak, upon which Christianity and Islam have been superimposed, are still an important part of adat ceremonies. I will confine myself here to certain old-religious implications of the ceremonial gondang music as found among the Toba and Karo.

Type
Articles
Information
Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 25 , 1993 , pp. 81 - 88
Copyright
Copyright © 1993 by the International Council for Traditional Music

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References

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