Pupuk is the name given to a magical substance which was used by the Batak shamans of North Sumatra. The pupuk is the main feature to perform black magic, e.g. to inflict damage to enemies. Method of creating the pupuk is inscribed in the pustaha, the magic book of the Toba people, among which involved the kidnapping and murder of a child from neighboring village. [1] [2]
The Batak people of northern Sumatra are especially notable for the abundance and variety of their ritual arts. Batak people believed that the spirits of dead were able to influence the fortunes of their living relatives, a belief which is shared with many proto-Malay animistic tribes of Indonesia. To gain favor from the ancestor spirits, the Bataks performed elaborate rituals or sacrifices. This knowledge of magic rituals was contained in a book known as the pustaha. The pustaha were created and used by the Batak male religious specialists known as guru by the Karo or datu by the Toba people. The magic knowledge in a pustaha is known as hadatuon (literally "knowledge of the datu"). According to Johannes Winkler (1874-1958), a Dutch doctor which was sent to Toba in 1901 and learned the pustaha from a datu named Ama Batuholing Lumbangaol, there were three types of magic knowledge in the pustaha: the art of sustaining life (white magic), the art of destroying life (black magic), and the art of divination. [2]
Some of the contents of the art of black magic in the pustaha are magical methods to attack enemies, to inflict damage, or to kill enemies. One of the most notable contents of the black magic is the potion known as the pupuk. The pupuk is a powerful substance that can be used to reanimate the spirits of the dead. To create the pupuk, first, the datu must kidnap a male infant from the enemy's village. The datu then raise the kidnapped child carefully so that the child becomes loyal to the datu. Then the datu must tell the child to drink a boiling molten tin. The child will die practically immediately. The body of the child would then be chopped and then mixed with other ingredients e.g. the flesh of animals. The mix is then left to putrefy. The liquid that oozes out of the putrefied mixture is collected and placed into a guri-guri (a kind of cup). The leftover material is burned until they become ash. This ash is known as the pupuk. [3] [4]
The murdered child's spirit becomes the pangulubalang, a kind of spirit that can be controlled for many uses. One of the uses of the pupuk is to animate the ancestral statues (debata idup) normally planted on ground around the village. A statue can be "charged" with the pupuk one time, two times, or three times, which render them stronger. A statue that has been charged with the pupuk is similarly known as the pangulubalang. The pangulubalang statues can protect the village or even destroy enemies. [3]
The datu employed a variety of containers made of different materials to hold the pupuk. The Batak people of Toba and Mandailing kept the pupuk in containers made of the horns of the water buffalo, known as the naga morsarang. The Karo people used a container made of the mountain goat's horn (buli buli). Another notable container is the perminaken, a ceramic container that was actually a Chinese ceramic.
The word pupuk is also an Indonesian word for fertilizer.
The Batak script, natively known as surat Batak, surat na sampulu sia, or si-sia-sia, is a writing system used to write the Austronesian Batak languages spoken by several million people on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The script may be derived from the Kawi and Pallava script, ultimately derived from the Brahmi script of India, or from the hypothetical Proto-Sumatran script influenced by Pallava.
North Sumatra is a province of Indonesia. It consists of a large northwestern belt of the island of Sumatra and its capital is Medan. North Sumatra is the fourth most-populous province after West Java, East Java and Central Java — it covers an area of 72,981 km2, and at the Census of 2015 it had a population of 13,923,262; the latest official estimate as at mid 2019 is 14,562,549.
Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, Angkola, and Mandailing which are related groups with distinct languages and traditional customs (adat).
The Karo, or Karonese, are a people of the 'tanah Karo' of North Sumatra and a small part of neighboring Aceh. The Karo lands consist of Karo Regency, plus neighboring areas in East Aceh Regency, Langkat Regency, Dairi Regency, Simalungun Regency and Deli Serdang Regency. In addition, the cities of Binjai and Medan, both bordered by Deli Serdang Regency, contain significant Karo populations, particularly in the Padang Bulan area of Medan. The town of Sibolangit, Deli Serdang Regency in the foothills on the road from Medan to Berastagi is also a significant Karo town.
The Batak languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken by the Batak people in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra and surrounding areas.
Toba Batak is an Austronesian language spoken in North Sumatra province in Indonesia. It is part of a group of languages called "Batak".
A tunggal panaluan is a magic staff used by shamans of the Batak people, who live in the highlands of North Sumatra, Indonesia. Traditionally the tunggal panaluan is made from wood of a specific tree and carved with human figures and embellished with horsehair and cooked human brain, both procured from sacrificial victims.
The Simalungun people are an ethnic group in North Sumatra, considered one of the Batak peoples. Simalungun people live mostly in Simalungun Regency and the surrounding areas, including the city of Pematang Siantar, an autonomous city, but previously part of Simalungun Regency. The regent of Simalungun is JR Saragih.
Patuan Besar Ompu Pulo Batu, better known as Si Singamangaraja XII, was the last priest-king of the Batak peoples of north Sumatra. In the course of fighting a lengthy guerrilla war against the Dutch colonisation of Sumatra from 1878 onwards, he was killed in a skirmish with Dutch troops in 1907. He was declared a National Hero of Indonesia in 1961 for his resistance to Dutch colonialism.
Batak architecture refers to the related architectural traditions and designs of the various Batak peoples of North Sumatra, Indonesia. There are six groups of Batak who speak separate but related languages: the Angkola, the Mandailing to the south, the Toba, to the north the Pakpak/Dairi, the Simalungun, and the Karo. While the groups are now Muslim or Christian, elements of the ancient Batak religion remain, particularly amongst the Karo.
Angkola people are one of the sub-ethnic groups comprising the Batak people from North Sumatra who live in South Tapanuli regency. The Angkola language is similar to Mandailing language, but it is sociolinguistically distinct.
Boraspati ni Tano or Boraspati, also known as Ilik, is the earth deity in Batak mythology. Boraspati ni Tano is represented as a tokay gecko. Images of Boraspati can be found decorating the door of a Batak Karo and Batak Toba buildings as well as other Batak objects e.g. the cover of the pustaha or the pupuk container naga morsarang.
A sopo is a treasury structure in the architecture of the Toba Batak people from North Sumatra, Indonesia. Its form is similar to that of a Batak traditional house with the exception of being smaller in size and a construction ritual that is the opposite of a Batak house. Sopo is used as a repository for various items, e.g. rice, magical items, or trophies. Sopo can also be used as a meeting point for social activities.
A jambur is a structure that is used as a multipurpose hall by the Karo people of North Sumatra, Indonesia. The traditional jambur is a large pavilion-like structure, raised above ground, wall-less, and placed under a large Karo traditional house roof style. Karo ritual ceremonies e.g. wedding feast, funeral, or general feasts are held within the jambur. Jambur can still be found in big cities of North Sumatra, e.g. Medan, Kabanjahe, Berastagi, as well as small villages in the Karo lands.
The Great Pustaha is a pustaha displayed in the Tropenmuseum of Amsterdam. The name refers to the largest pustaha which was kept in the museum. The official name for the pustaha is simply "pustaha", but for the purpose of distinction, the pustaha is called the Great Pustaha.
Pustaha is the magic book of the Toba Batak people of North Sumatra, Indonesia. The book contains magical formulas, divinations, recipes, and laws. The pustaha is written and compiled by a Batak magician-priest (datu).
Gorga is a form of artistic decoration found in the culture of Batak Toba in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The gorga motif is in the shape of flourishes and undulations. The motif is either painted or carved onto wood using three colors: white, red, black; each corresponds with different realms in the Batak Toba cosmology. Gorga motif is often found in Batak Toba architecture e.g. a Batak Toba house or objects e.g. music instruments. They are meant to protect the building or object from spiritual harm e.g. evil spirits sent from neighboring village.
The naga morsarang, also known as sahan, is a container which is used to store medicine in the culture of Toba people of North Sumatra, Indonesia. The naga morsarang is created out of the horn of the water buffalo.
The Porhalaan is the traditional calendar of the Batak people of North Sumatra, Indonesia. The Batak Calendar is a lunisolar calendar consisting of 12 months divided to 30 days with an occasional leap month. The Batak calendar is derived from Hindu calendar. The Batak people do not use the porhalaan as a mean to tell time, but rather to determine auspicious day, which is only used by the Batak shaman.
Batak mythology is the original belief that was once adopted by the Batak people of North Sumatra, Indonesia, namely before the arrival of Protestant, Catholic, or Islamic religions. There are various tarombo versions written on pustaha which historians study, but generally refer to the figures below.