Abstract:
Tanah Karo in North Sumatera, Indonesia,
about ten years ago has a mainstay tourist
objects, The Village of Lingga. The village has a
legacy of the traditional houses named
Siwaluh Jabu (a house with eight rooms)
which are over 250 years old. Currently
people in Lingaga affected by anxiety, given
the existence of the traditional houses which
is also the historical evidence of community
Karo village is getting defective and could be
vanished in the next ten years. The
destruction process is due to two major
things, first because of limited natural
resources and economic capabilities of the
settler, secondly because of changes in living
patterns.
Originally, traditional houses of Karo made of
wood and inhabited by eight families, are not
equipped bedroom, living room even
bathroom. All family members sleep in 'Jabu'
or room without partition. The only space in
the house is a multi function room, where
cooking, eating, gathering places as well as
family bed. The small size of the window and
the amount of smoke generated during
cooking has made the house stuffy, cramped
and unhealthy. For that reason, the residents
began to leave the house so the house
abandoned, neglected and decay. This paper
will explain the role of community, home
owners and village heads in their limitations
to cooperate with the government, so that
the traditional houses in their villages keep
inhabited as a primary requirement to keep
the continuity and the preservation of
traditional Karo house.
