Description of the attraction
Pagaruyung Palace was once the seat of the Minangkabau kings who ruled the kingdom of Pagaruyung, although there is very little information about this. Minangkabau is a nation that inhabits areas of Western and Central Sumatra.
The royal palace was built in the traditional style for the Minangkabau people - rumah gadang. Rumach Gadang, translated from the language of the Minangkabau people, sounds like "big house". Despite the fact that today there is no king or royal family living in it, the palace is still very popular among Minangkabau.
The palace was repeatedly burned and rebuilt. After the last fire, the palace was restored and today serves as a museum, and is also considered a popular tourist attraction.
The original building of the palace was built of wood and was located on Mount Batu Patah. The palace was striking in its uniqueness: a building of three floors, 72 columns and roofs with pointed edges, shaped like the wings of a bat. But in 1804, during the Padri War (a military conflict between the inhabitants of Sumatra and the Dutch conquerors), the palace was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt, but in 1966 there was another fire and the palace was destroyed again. The restoration of the palace began only in 1976, the new building was an exact copy of the original royal palace. This building was not built on the spot where the old palace stood, but slightly to the south.
Unfortunately, in 2007 there was a fire again as a result of lightning hitting the roof. Almost all valuable artifacts were destroyed. The surviving historical objects can be seen today in the Silinduang Bulan Palace, which is located 2 km from the Pagaruyung Palace. After the last fire, the reconstruction lasted about 6 years, and the palace reopened only in 2013.
