15 Cultural Attractions in North Sumatra – Best Ones You Should Visit

As said above in our article of attractions in Bali for an adventurer, today we want to give you the topic about cultural attraction. In the previous articles, most of the topics are natural attractions and the culinary stuff. Now it’s time to dig more to the new topic of cultural attractions in Indonesia.

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Like you may know already, Indonesia is a country that rich in culture. In every area, there’s always a unique culture that really different to the others, even though the areas are still located on one island. For example, in Java island, you can find so many cultures that you couldn’t imagine, starting from the East to West Java province. You can even find greater numbers on the other islands, in Sumatra for example.

This time, we want to share the information about the cultural attractions in North Sumatra. Let’s check it out.

1 – Nias Museum

As the first place on the list of cultural attractions in North Sumatra, let’s visit a museum. Of course, museum seems so boring and all, but some museums that located around the province of North Sumatra are actually really important as a source of information to learn about this province’s culture.

Nias Museum is develope by Kapusin community in Sibolga. They keep the collections of Pastor Johannes M. Harmelle, who was the catholic missionary who liked to collect some stuff related to North Sumatra culture. Now, aside from exploring the museum directly by visiting its location, you can also searh important information on their website.

2 – North Sumatra Museum

The next museum is of course North Sumatra Museum, a place where you can have a lot of things to feed your brain about the Indonesian culture, especially in North Sumatra province. This museum is located in H.M. Jhoni street number 51, Medan. People who live around it give the nickname to it, the Provsu.

The museum, however, was built back in April 19 1982  by the minister of education and culture, Daoed Joesoef. It’s actually one of the best museums in Indonesia. Until 2005, the museum has about 6.799 collections of cultural heritages, arts, and some of the old statues from the Hindu-Budha age in Indonesia.

3 – Medan Great Mosque

The third one is Medan Great Mosque. This building is the biggest mosque in North Sumatra where people are gathering in order to take five times pray in a day. The building looks pretty simple with its three domes on the top. Around the mosque, there’s also the small pond that gives an impression of a place that looks like the Taj Mahal.

Even though the place is indeed crowded with people in every single day, when Ramadhan, you can find even more people. Usually, they come here in order to breakfast together, especially because the mosque also provides some meals to them. However, if you want to visit, you can go to Sisingamangaraja street in Medan.

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4 – Maimun Palace

If you are a person who always love to visit some majestic places like castles or palaces, which is like a dream come true for some people, then maybe this one place is suitable for you. Here, you’re gonna witness not only a replica, but the real and original Maimun Palaca that located in Brigadir Jenderal Katamso street of Medan.

Standing firmly from many years ago until now, the Maimun Palaca is still being an icon of this city. This palace is the heritage of Deli Sultanate and became a tourist attractions years later after the dawn of His government. With the combination of design style from Islamic to European, it’s always a nice location to visit.

5 – Rahmat International Museum and Gallery

Again, we’re gonna visit a museum. As a refreshere, we want to tell you about the museum that specifically focus on a wildlife called Rahmat International Museum and Gallery. All over the museum, you can witness some animals. They’re not alive for sure, but they still look so real, especially the tigers.

However, this museum was granted a title for museum that has the largest animal collections in Asia, isn’t that awesome? If you really interested and decided to go there, you can find it in the street of S.Parman in Medan City of North Sumatra. You need to pay for entrance ticket though, with the additional if you also take some pictures inside.

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6 – Keling Village Medan

For the next attraction, we’re gonna introduce the whole new place to you, a village named Keling. So, the village of Keling is inhabited by mostly Indian people. Visiting this village would be like visiting another country. You can find the thick Indian culture here and you can enjoy them as well.

Aside from getting along with them, you can also do some stuff here like doing historical journey to some Hindu temples around the village. Trying some of the best Indian meals in here is also very recommended, especially they are served directly by Indian people. Also, around the locations, there are many heritages from colonial era that can be seen.

7 – Maha Vihara Adhi Maitreya 

In the Medan city, you could also do some religious trip to some interesing locations, like this one for example. The name of this place is Maha Vihara Adhi Maitreya. Some people are calling it with simpler name, Cemara Asri Temple. Why? Because the location of this temple is inside a residental area named Cemara Asri.

However, on every single day, this Vihara or temple is not only visited by the people who want to take a pray, but also the ones who want to visit to enjoy the view around it. There are three holy statues like Judge Bao, Budha Statue, and also Godess Kwan Im that look very interesting for some pictures.

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8 – Patimpus Monument

Let’s move aside from the temple to visit the center of Medan city, to a statue named Patimpus Monument. Who is this guy? Patimpus, with the full name Guru Patimpus Sembiring Pelawi lived around the 16th century. He was the founder of Medan city, giving the city the name “Medan”, which means a cure.

He and His Wife cut down the forest areas between Deli and Babura river in order to make an area that was being the first area of Medan. Now, this important guy can be seen in the form of a monument statue that placed in the middle of a mini fountain. Near it, there’s also a little vocational area for families who want to spend their time.

9 – Medan Post Office

Aside from the monument, in the Medan city center, you can also visit one iconic building of the city, the Medan Post Office. It’s located near the golden monument that shines brightly during the night. However, the post office is considered as one of many old buildings that still standing firmly until now.

It started to operate back in 1911, designed and build by an architect from Netherland who also responsible for the development of Ledeng Office in Medan city. From that year to now 2019, this office is still operating. It receives goods and send them to the people, just like any other post offices around the globe.

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10 – Shri Maha Mariamman Temple

The culinary journey to the area of Medan city in North Sumatra province wouldn’t be complete without visiting one of the oldest temples in the city called Shri Maha Mariamman Temple. This temple was finished to built in 1881, created in order as a place to pray to God Mariamman of course.

Basically, this temple has more than a hundred years old. Most of the design that can be seen on the temple is showing the South Indian architecture with the color that dominated with blueish tone. Also on the gate site of the temple, you can also see the tower with some levels or platforms that called as Gopuram.

So those are the top locations that we should mention inside the cultural attractions in North Sumatra. Aside from visiting them, we also want to tell you that North Sumtra also has a hight potential of natural tourism. Here are some locations worth mentioning.

1. Gundaling Hill

2. Toba Lake

3. Lingga Village

4. Tarutung City

5. Pandan Beach

The topic of cultural attractions in North Sumatra. So what do you think about them? Do you have a plan to visit North Sumatra later this year? Kindly tell us on the comment section right below. For the next topic, we want to say some things about the world of myth in Indonesia. Make sure to stay tuned at Facts of Indonesia.com for more exclusive information about this beloved country. See you later!