A balairung is a village hall of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It has a similar architectural form to the, the domestic architecture of the Minangkabau people. Whereas a is a proper building, the is a pavilion-like structure used solely for holding a consensus decision-making process in the Minang society.
According to the Minangkabau Dictionary, a is a building where a decision-making consensus is held, led by the chief of the adat society . is derived from the words balai ("pavilion") and rung ("building"), referring to the traditional pavilion-like wooden architecture of the building.
The term has been incorporated into the Indonesian language in general. The Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language defines the as a balai ("pavilion") or a large where the king meets with his people (bangsal kencana is the Yogyakarta-Surakarta equivalent). In modern times, any kind of hall was named, e.g., the building of the University of Indonesia, which is the main hall of the university and the largest building in the campus.[1]
A balairung has the same form as a, employing a dramatic curved roof structure with multi-tiered, upswept gables. Similar to the rumah gadang, is designed as a raised stage house, supported by posts. and its walls (if they exist) are similarly decorated with carvings of painted floral patterns.
The main difference between a and a is that the layout of the interior is not divided into rooms; instead, it is designed as one room as a whole used for a communal function. Consequently, a lacks panels for the door and shutters for the windows. Many do not have a wall at all. With no wall, more people can join the meeting from the outside of the . Access to a is provided by a single portal in the middle of the building, linked to the ground with a staircase.
A may be built with an, a kind of raised platform at the two ends of the building. This raised platform is where the should be seated. Some are built with the floor situated at the same level, lacking the . In other types of, such as the, the middle part of the building contains no floor, allowing the horse of the to pass through. The part where the floor disappears is known as .
The is a wooden building where the group of chiefs, or, collected under the name of, leading a meeting to solve village affairs. According to its function, a can be divided into two types: the and the . A is used to hold meetings which resolve disputes or give punishment to a person. The (a pavilion to prepare) is a platform where a mutual consultation is held before implementing new laws in the village.
A can only be built in a village that has already received the status (administrative village). Therefore, the balairung acts as a kind of town hall for the village.