Great Pustaha

Achim Sibeth, author of The Batak, commented that the animal is the representation of the Naga Padoha, a primordial water serpent that rules the underworld.

An example of the representation of singa can be found in a wooden animal head collected by Tassilo Adam, a German planter and an enthusiast in Batak Toba culture.

The datu who wrote and owned the Great Pustaha, Guru Tumurun Hata ni adji, namora Simandjuntak lived in this village.

Van der Tuuk collected various Batak crafts during his stay between 1851 and 1857, including the Great Pustaha.

[1] In 1857, Van der Tuuk was forced to return to Barus after nearly killed by the Sisingamangaraja, the holy priest-king of the Toba Batak people.

In the Netherlands, Van der Tuuk finished his four-volume of Batak-Nederduitsch dictionary and translated a number of Books of the Bible.

In 1894, Van der Tuuk died of dysentery at the age of 70 in a military hospital in Surabaya, East Java.

Artifacts were usually acquired from private collectors, administrators, trade agents, travelers, explorers, missionaries, companies, and scientific societies.

A 19th-century drawing shows the Great Pustaha placed on the floor, while other Toba Batak crafts e.g. potion holders, staffs, and knives, hung from above.

Frederik van Eeden collected samples of trade goods from the colonial territories e.g. the Netherlands East and West Indies.

[1] In 1910 the Vereeniging Koloniaal Instituut was founded and plans were made to build a new facility in Amsterdam, opposite to Natura Artis Magistra.

Through this transaction, the objects donated by Van der Tuuk came together with the collection of the Colonial Museum, including the Great Pustaha.

[1] In 1939, when the threat of war was felt from neighboring Germany, the Great Pustaha was evacuated from the galleries and kept in the museum's basements.

The Great Pustaha survived the war, perhaps thanks to the fact that the 'Ordnungspolizei' was based inside the Colonial Institute's office.

Today, the pustaha is displayed on its own as the most important example of the dragon, and as a representation of Naga Padoha.