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Rectangular
songket textiles woven in geometric patterns
with supplementary threads of silver or gold are the finest
supplementary weft textiles in Indonesia. On festive occasions
Minangkabau women are lavishly adorned with jewelry and
traditional fabrics such as this songket
worn over the shoulder as a selindang;
another songket is folded into a traditional
tanduk headdress that resembles the horns
of a water buffalo.
During
the Majapahit dynasty the Javanese conquered new territory
in Sumatra. When the Javanese army reached West Sumatra
the people suggested a contest between a local kerbau,
or buffalo, and one representing the Javanese army, to avoid
human bloodshed. Certain that the army's magnificent kerbau
would win any fight, the Javanese agreed to stake the sovereignty
of the region on this contest. However, the kerbau
chosen by the Sumatrans was a half-starved calf with a spike
fixed in its mouth. As it tried to suckle the adult kerbau
the mature animal fled in pain. This clever ploy is the
origin of the name Minangkabau, which signifies 'victorious
buffalo.'
Payakumbuh,
West Sumatra
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