Rumah Gadang

• Rumah gadang "big house"- or more correctly called by Minangkabau people rumah bagonjong "house with horn-like roof"
• The architecture, construction, internal and external decoration, and the functions of the house reflect the culture and values of the Minangkabau.
• A rumah gadang serves as a residence, a hall for family meetings, and for ceremonial activities. With the Minangkabau society being matrilineal, the rumah gadang is owned by the women of the family who live there - ownership is passed from mother to daughter.
• The houses have dramatic curved roof structure with multi-tiered, upswept gables. Shuttered windows are built into walls incised with profuse painted floral carvings. 
• The term rumah gadang usually refers to the larger communal homes, however, smaller single residences share many of its architectural elements.

• A communal rumah gadang is a long house, rectangular in plan, with multiple gables and upsweeping ridges, forming buffalo horn-like ends. 
• They normally have three-tiered projections, each with varying floor levels. 
• They are broad and set on wooden piles that can reach as high as 3 metres (10 ft) off the ground; sometimes with a verandah running along the front face of the house which is used as a reception and dining area, and as a sleeping place for guests. 
• Unlike the Batak Toba homes, where the roof essentially creates the living space, the Minangkabau roof rests on conventional walls. Cooking and storage areas are often in separate buildings.

Architectural elements

Each element of a rumah gadang has its own symbolic meaning, which is referred to in adat speech and aphorisms. The elements of a rumah gadang includes:

• gonjong, hornlike roof structure
• singkok, triangular wall under the ends of gonjong
• pereng, shelf under the singkok
• anjuang, raised floor at the end of one style of rumah gadang
• dindiang ari, the walls on the side elevations
• dindiang tapi, the walls on the front and back elevations
• papan banyak, front facade
• papan sakapiang, a shelf or middle band on the periphery of the house
• salangko, wall enclosing space under a house that has been built on stilts

Some symbolisms of the house, for example, relate to the gonjong reaching to god, and the dindiang tapi, which is traditionally made of plaited strips of bamboo, symbolizing the strength and utility of the community which is formed when individual Minangkabau become part of the larger community instead of standing alone.

The pillars of the ideal rumah gadang are arranged in five rows which run the length of the house. These rows divide the interior into four long spaces called lanjar. Thelanjar at the rear of the house is divided into bedrooms (ruang). According to adat, a rumah gadang must have at least five ruang, and the ideal number is nine. The other lanjar are used as a common area, called the labuah gajah (elephant road), for living and ceremonial events.

A number of rice barns (rangkiang) ideally accompany a rumah gadang, with each having a different name and function. The rangkiang sitinjau lauik, contains rice for the family, particularly for adat ceremonies. The rangkiang sitangka lapa contains rice for donation to poor villagers and for times of famine in the village. The rangkiang sibayau-bayau contains rice for the daily needs of the family.