Batak mythology is the original

belief A belief is an attitude that something is the case, or that some proposition is true. In epistemology, philosophers use the term "belief" to refer to attitudes about the world which can be either true or false. To believe something is to take i ...

that was once adopted by the

Batak people 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, ...

North Sumatra North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, namely before the arrival of Protestant, Catholic, or Islamic religions. There are various '' tarombo'' (ancestor myth) versions written on ''

pustaha Pustaha ( Toba Batak: ᯇᯮᯘ᯲ᯖᯂ) 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 (d ...

'' (ancient books) which historians study, but generally refer to the figures below. In this belief, the highest god who made the universe and everything in it was ''Debata (Ompung) Mulajadi na Bolon'', who reigned in the sky. Apart from being the ruler of the upper world, ''Debata Mulajadi na Bolon'' was also the ruler of the middle world, and the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

of the spirits, but there he was called by other names. As the ruler of the middle world, he was called ''Silaon na Bolon'', and as the ruler of the world of the spirits, he was called ''Pane na Bolon''. The first creation of ''Debata Mulajadi na Bolon'' was ''Manukmanuk Hulambujati'', a magical chicken with an iron-beaked and shinny braceleted-claws. Manukmanuk Hulambujati then laid three eggs, each egg gave rise to gods named ''Debata Batara Guru'', ''Debata Sorisohaliapan'', and ''Debata Balabulan'', who were then summoned together as ''Debata na Tolu''. ''Si Boru Deak Parujar'', the daughter of ''Debata Batara Guru'', was the first heavenly creature that descended to earth, namely in a mountain called Pusuk Buhit. On earth, ''Si Boru Deak Parujar'' married Raja Odapodap, which also came from one of Manukmanuk Hulambujati later eggs. Their first child was shaped round like an egg, not similar at all to humans, then ''Debata Mulajadi na Bolon'' told them to bury it, where out of it came plants that spread on the surface of the earth. Therefore, the plants were seen as the older sibling of humans in the Batak myth. Next, male–female twins were born, called ''Raja Ihat Manisia'' and ''Boru Ihat Manisia''. After ''Raja Ihat Manisia'' and ''Boru Ihat Manisia'' became adults, the two then got married and gave rise to all other humans, including the eponymous ancestor of the Batak people named ''Si Raja Batak''. ''Si Boru Deak Parujar'' and ''Raja Odapodap'' then returned to the sky after their two children got married, and since then the connection between heaven and earth has been broken off, unlike before.

References

{{List of mythological figures by region Batak Indonesian mythology

See also

References