THE BATAKS

The Batak Toba and Batak Simalungun people live around Parapat. The Batak people composed of Batak Toba, Simulungun, Pak-Pak, and Karo, are known for their expressiveness, which is often materialized in lively and sentimental love songs. If every person in Bali can carve, every person in Batak can sing or play the guitar.

The Batak people live in the north of Sumatra, in the hilly region of lake Toba. At the beginning of this century the last Batak were placed under the authority of the Netherlands. Most of them were christianized. The Bataks form the largest Protestant community of Asia. Nevertheless a lot of old traditions were preserved. *RV

<< Click me to go back to main menu