Jam Gadang (

Minangkabau Minangkabau may refer to: * Minangkabau culture, culture of the Minangkabau people * Minangkabau Culture Documentation and Information Center * Minangkabau Express, an airport rail link service serving Minangkabau International Airport (''see bel ...

for "Big Clock"; Jawi: جام غدانغ ) is a

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

, major

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern-day use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures ...

, and tourist attraction in the city of

Bukittinggi Bukittinggi (, Jawi script, Jawi: , formerly ) is the third largest city in West Sumatra, Indonesia, with a population of 111,312 in 2010Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 121,028 in 2020.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. An official es ...

West Sumatra West Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. West Sumatra borders the Indian Ocean to the west, as well as the provinces of ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. It is in the centre of the city, near the main market, Pasar Ateh. It has large

clock A clock or chronometer is a device that measures and displays time. The clock is one of the oldest Invention, human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month, a ...

s on each face.

History

Jam Gadang is located in central

, a city in the

Minangkabau Highlands The Minangkabau Highlands (, Minangkabau language, Minang: ''Minang Darek'') is a mountainous area in the province of West Sumatra, located around three mountains—Mount Marapi, Mount Singgalang, and Mount Sago—in west-central Sumatra, Indon ...

. It sits in the middle of the Sabai Nan Aluih Park, near the Ateh Market and palace of

Mohammad Hatta Mohammad Hatta ( ; 12 August 1902 – 14 March 1980) was an Indonesian statesman, nationalist, and independence activist who served as the country's first Vice President of Indonesia, vice president as well as the third prime minister. Known as ...

. The structure was built in 1926, during the Dutch colonial era, as a gift from

Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, making her the longest-reigning monarch in Dutch history, as ...

to the city's ''controleur''. It was designed by architects Yazid Abidin and Sutan Gigi Ameh, reportedly at a cost of 3,000

guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' (" gold penny"). This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Rom ...

. Originally a

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

figure was placed on the apex, but it was changed into a ''

Sōrin The two types of pagoda finial (''sōrin''), in bronze ('' tahōtō'') and stone ('' hōkyōintō'') The is the vertical shaft (finial) which tops a Japanese pagoda, whether made of stone or wood.Pagodas can be made of wood or stone, and th ...

'' spire used in

Shinto shrine A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

architecture during the Japanese occupation in West Sumatra (1942–1945). The roof of the tower was then remodeled to closely follow a

Japanese pagoda Multi-storied pagodas in wood and stone, and a ''gorintō'' Pagodas in Japan are called , sometimes or , and derive historically from the Chinese pagoda, itself an interpretation of the Indian ''stupa''. Like the ''stupa'', pagodas were ori ...

roofing. Following

Indonesian independence The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence (, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 Tokyo Standard Time on Friday 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of the Indonesian Nati ...

, the tower's top was reshaped to its present form, which resembles traditional

Minang Minang may refer to: Sumatra * Minangkabau people, an ethnic group in Sumatra * Padang cuisine or Minang food, the cuisine of the Minangkabau people * Minang language, the language spoken by the Minangkabau people Australia * Mineng Mineng ...

roofs (see ''

Rumah Gadang Rumah Gadang ( Minangkabau: "big house") or Rumah Bagonjong "house for the Minangkabau people" ( Minangkabau: "spired roof house") are the traditional homes () of the Minangkabau in West Sumatra, Indonesia. The architecture, construction, intern ...

''). The internal mechanisms of the clock are twin to those in the

Elizabeth Tower Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, Pars pro toto, by extension, for the clock tower itself, which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. Originally named the Cl ...

(Big Ben) in London. On March 6, 2007, the Jam Gadang tower was damaged by two earthquakes that struck western Sumatra. Over the following years it was refurbished by the Indonesia Heritage Trust (Badan Pelestarian Pusaka Indonesia). Funding for the 600 million

rupiah The rupiah (Currency symbol, symbol: Rp; ISO 4217, currency code: IDR) is the official currency of Indonesia, issued and controlled by Bank Indonesia. Its name is derived from the Sanskrit word for silver, (). Sometimes, Indonesians also inform ...

(approximately 55 thousand euros) restoration came from the Netherlands. The refurbished tower was inaugurated on December 22, 2010, as part of Bukittinggi's 262nd anniversary celebrations. The Jam Gadang tower has been used as an observation post during fires, such as one that affected the Ateh Market. During

Ramadhan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting ('' sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed to have been rev ...

, the

call to prayer A call to prayer is a summons for participants of a faith to attend a group worship or to begin a required set of prayers. The call is one of the History of telecommunication, earliest forms of telecommunication, communicating to people across gre ...

that marks the breaking of the fast is sounded from the tower.

Clock structure and location

The tower has four clocks made in

Recklinghausen Recklinghausen (; ) is the northernmost city in the Ruhr-Area and the capital of the Recklinghausen district. It borders the rural Münsterland and is characterized by large fields and farms in the north and industry in the south. Recklinghaus ...

, Germany by Bernard Vortmann and shipped via

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. Each clock face has a diameter of . The tower's base is and it stands tall. The clocks use "IIII" for the number 4 instead of the traditional

Roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...

"IV". The laying of the tower's

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

was done by the 6-year-old son of Rook Maker, the city secretary of

at the time.

Tourism

The Jam Gadang tower is considered an icon of Bukittinggi and the city's main tourist attraction. Given its iconic appearance, the structure is a frequent object of local

souvenirs A souvenir ( French for 'a remembrance or memory'), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and trans ...

. It is printed on apparel, painted, used as model for sculpting and magnet design, and so forth. It is common for tourists visiting Bukittinggi to take photographs in front of the tower, and local residents offer photography services for this purpose. Tourists visiting the tower were once allowed to climb to the top, but require written permission to do so. Many people visit the Jam Gadang with family or friends. Many hotels are near Jam Gadang, as are traditional horse-drawn carriages called ''bendi''. Since 2016, the Jam Gadang plaza has hosted traditional Minang dances for tourists. It also serves as the centre of New Year celebration in Bukittinggi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jam Gadang Landmarks in Indonesia Clock towers Buildings and structures in West Sumatra Cultural Properties of Indonesia in West Sumatra

History

Clock structure and location

Tourism

See also

References