Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — In North Sumatra’s Batak Toba culture, grief can take the shape of a life-sized wooden puppet that dances and weeps at funerals, known as Sigale Gale. The figure has been part of a centuries-old tradition meant to honor the dead who leave no children behind, a condition seen as “incomplete” in Batak belief.
In Batak society, children are considered both heirs and guardians of their parents’ spirits. When someone dies childless, the family commissions a Sigale Gale doll resembling the deceased, dressed in traditional attire and ulos cloth. The puppet takes the place of the absent child who should be “crying” for the deceased and performing ceremonial dances during the saur matua funeral ritual.
Carved from lightweight wood, the dolls were once animated by hidden operators pulling levers and strings. In recent years, some have been fitted with hydraulic or electronic systems, giving them smoother, more lifelike movements. Their swaying gestures, often paired with artificial tears, convey a deep sorrow meant to bridge the living with the dead.
Historically, the ritual was sacred and exclusive performed only by noble families or respected elders due to its complexity and cost. Villages such as Tomok and Pangururan on Samosir Island still preserve original Sigale Gale puppets as treasured cultural heirlooms.
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In the 1990s, the tradition expanded into the tourism sphere, with performances staged for visitors around Lake Toba. While the setting may have changed, many Batak communities insist on preserving the ceremony’s meaning. Guides and performers typically explain its cultural and spiritual significance before each show.
The dances are accompanied by gondang sabangunan, a traditional Batak Toba music ensemble. The shifting tempo sometimes mournful, sometimes swelling matches the puppet’s movements, evoking a blend of solemnity and emotional release.
Now recognized by Indonesia’s government as Intangible Cultural Heritage, Sigale Gale has found new life through cultural festivals and tourism programs. For the Batak people, it remains more than just a puppet. It is a vessel for loyalty, mourning, and remembrance in a wooden body carrying living emotions, ensuring that the voices of ancestors are never silenced.
(Raidi/Agung)
