Museum Pusaka Nias Part I: The Ancestors' Inheritance

If you are a traveler who only have one day to visit the Nias Island , I would recommend the Nias Heritage Museum a.k.a Museum Pusaka Nias as a tourist destination in representing this island . This place combines elements of natural beauty with a wealth of Nias culture.  In this museum people are not only to visit the cultural museums and libraries alone ,but also  the zoo, the park and the beach. Interesting, right?

Due to the many functions of this museum , thus I will share the story of my visit to this museum in two articles , namely the Museum Pusaka Nias Part I: The Ancestor’s Inheritance and Museum Pusaka Nias Part II: Beach, Park and Playground.

Pict by The Jakarta Post.

Not only inside the hall, the collections are also exhibited ouside. This is a stone chair.

A traditional house of Nias that is also used as a hall for rent.

What's inside
The exhibition hall is made up of several pavilions (4 if I'm not mistaken), which exhibits many art, cultural and historical collections of the ancestor of Nias people. Among the various collections contained in the museum, I found artifacts, traditional clothing and houses, jewelries and symbols that indicate a person's status in the past. There are also household and kitchen utensil such as knifes, axes, and banquet tools. Those collections were made of various types of material such as ceramics, wood, stone, metal, etc. In the middle of the museum, there's an open space to display various megaliths such as stone statues, stone tombs and kings throne. 

 

How to get there

This museum is addresed on Jl. Yos Sudarso No. 134 A, Gunungsitoli, Nias, North Sumatera. It is located in a very strategic area and can be reached by various modes of transportation. Located about 2 km form downtown, 500 meters from the port of Gunungsitoli and about 20 km from Binaka Airport, the visitors usually use cars, becak motor (pedicab pulled by a motorbike), bicycles or motorbike to get here. Unlike in the big city, Gunungsitoli still does not have a means of public transportation, so that motorcycling is still the most popular way to reach every corner of the town. To get into this touris area, visitors must pay tickets Rp 2000,- per person, Rp 5000,- for motorcycle and car (they have different rate for car, but I am really sorry that I can't give that information now. I'll find out, anyway). With this ticket, visitors can enter the area of the zoo, parks, several areas of Nias traditional houses and the beach. As for entering the museum/exhibiton hall, again, visitors have to pay Rp 3000,- for children and Rp 5000,- for adults.

Final Thought

I really enjoyed my visit at Museum Pusaka Nias. Each of the pavilions were 

beautifully designed to exhibit all the collections. Not only that, I also enjoyed

reading the story behind each collection written in an information card below the

display and the companion of the kind curators. This place has all the amenities

that you need to learn a few things about Nias Island and the people in the past.

But I was a little disappointed since we are not allowed to take any photo inside the

exhibiton hall, neither the collection nor the information card. There’s only one

room where we can take photos. This room displays some miniatures of Nias

traditional houses, wooden kings throne and also the story of how this museum

was established.  

These are some photos that tells the story of how this museum was established.

But for people who just want to take some selfie and fun photos with friends and

family, this room is enough.

I really enjoyed every visit to this museum and the views expressed in this article

are my own opinion without any bad intention.

Ps.

For you who want to know more about this museum, the history and the collections, you should check out / http://www.museum-nias.org/