Pariangan

Minangkabau oral tradition holds that the people began at Pariangan on the flank of Mount Marapi, and that from here the lineages spread out across the highlands and down to the coast - so this village of a few hundred people on a terraced slope is, in the customary account, the origin of a group now numbering millions across Indonesia and Malaysia. What is there is a working village on steep ground: rice terraces stepping down the mountainside, a large old rumah gadang, the Ishlah mosque with a tiered roof said to date from the eighteenth century, a hot spring bathhouse fed from the volcano, and the tomb of Datuk Tantejo Gurhano, credited with building the first Minangkabau house. It received attention after a travel magazine listing named it among the world's most beautiful villages.

History

Local legend says Pariangan is the oldest of all Minangkabau villages, and a large ancient tomb here is said to belong to Tantejo Gurhano, an early ruler. The whole village is now protected as a cultural monument under national law (Wikipedia, Pariangan).

What you'll find

• The claimed Minangkabau origin - the village tradition names as the people's first settlement.
• Terraced slopes - rice stepping down the flank of Marapi.
• A tiered-roof mosque - the Ishlah mosque, traditionally eighteenth century.
• Volcanic hot springs - the village bathhouse fed from the mountain.

When to go

All year; mornings before the cloud. Half a day.

Practical notes

It is a small working village, not a museum - visitors should be quiet and ask before photographing. Facilities are minimal. The magazine listing raised expectations well above what is there.

Nearby

Pagaruyung palace and Batusangkar are east; Bukittinggi is north-west.