Longhouses in Borneo, Southeast Asia

September 5, 2007 by sachinskg

The traditional house structure in the Southeast Asian island of Borneo (now Kalimantan) is a longhouse (Rumah Panjang in Malay, Rumah Panjai in Iban). Typically, they are refined constructions; elevated off the ground on stilts so as to counter the frequent flooding in the area. The raised structure facilitated increased circulation of cooling air throughout the living zones. Furthermore, livestock could shelter below and be ensured of safety at night. The general alignment is such that a row private living quarters are along one side and a more public are along the other side. The entry could also be a dock for the boats that are one of the ubiquitous modes of travel in the region. The space below the longhouse and between the stilts was conventionally used as a workplace for tasks such as threshing. On a larger perspective, such structures seem to have been most resorted to for accommodation in the jungle in the past, as similar structuring is also found in the dwellings in South American jungles. This detail takes on increased significance considering that there was no known connection between the two regions in early times.

Contemporary structures also are based on similar design, although many of the older longhouses have given way to buildings using more modern materials. Wherever flooding is relatively infrequent, the space beneath the longhouse has been has been changed over as living areas or has been blocked against entry to increase security.

The long house conventionally is composed of a central wall along the length of the building, flanked on one side by a corridor (or a large hall) and private units (bilik) – each with a single door for each family on the other. The private side of the central wall is blocked from public view by another wall.

Bilik units are separated from each other by walls and contain living and sleeping areas. The kitchen (dapor) is occasionally located within this space, but more often added in the back, or even in a separate building connected to the longhouse (for safety from fire, keep away smoke and insects from the living area.

The corridor has three distinct parts.

The space in front of the door (tempuan), of each bilik and used privately, where domestic work can be done.
A public corridor (ruai) that is along the length in the middle, and mainly used as a thoroughfare.
The space along the outer wall (pantai) that is used as guest sleeping quarters. A large veranda (tanju) is built in front of the longhouse on the pantai side, and is used for drying rice (padi) and other outdoor activities.

A kind of loft (sadau) is built along the middle of the house under the peak of the roof. The sadau acts as a stockroom for padi and other food, and also as a viewing gallery.The plan described above is probably of the Iban Sea Dayak and Melanau Sea Dayak, a sub-ethnic group or tribe. Different tribes built variants of long houses, but retained the principal design. The Bidayuh, Land Dayak built wider verandas and added buildings for the unmarried adults and guests. The Kayan, Kenyah, Murut, and Kelabit used to build fewer walls between individual bilik units. The Punan apparently were the last ethnic group to take up this type of house building.

Sarawak has a lot of places with the word ‘Long” in their names, like Long Semado (which even has an airfield). Most of these places still are or once were long houses.

A traditional house type on Siberut, of the Mentawai Islands around 130 kilometers to the west off the coast of Sumatra (Sumatera), Indonesia is also called a longhouse, with different interior plans though. Five to ten families may live in each building.

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Longhouses in Borneo, Southeast Asia

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