Sopo (structure)

A sopo is a treasury structure in the architecture of the Toba Batak people from North Sumatra, Indonesia.

The word sopo is a Batak word which indicates a structure which is used to store items, whether it is to store rice (sopo eme, eme means "rice"), war trophies (e.g. wild boar or human skulls, or the smoked and dried hands of the enemies), or magic ritual items (e.g. the pustahas or magic batons).

[2] During the 20th-century, many old sopo have been converted into houses by adding wooden panels[failed verification] around the periphery of the open space, to form an enclosed structure.

Various type of sopo, original and converted, can be found in villages surrounding the southern part of the Lake Toba and on the Samosir Island.

This large sopo served as a meeting hall, and its attic could be used as a shrine for sacred treasures, in which case it may not always function as a granary.

Smaller ordinary sopo, on the other hand, has less ornamentation and stands on the opposite side of each houses in a village.

[6] The Batak Toba house (ruma) and the sopo are both a structure built on posts with a distinctive roof shape.

In larger sopo, the sitting platform is skirted by wooden planks that are jointed in the corners, acting as a balustrade.

The symbolism is evident in the Batak Toba expression ruma jabu ni boru, sopo jabu ni baoa, meaning "the ruma (house) a dwelling for women, the sopo a dwelling for men".