Pariangan
The Minangkabau people are delighted that a 2011 CNN survey declared rendang to be the most delicious food in the world. Some also claim Pariangan to be the most beautiful village in the world (it featured in a 2012 travel website's list of the "world's 16 most picturesque villages") and it is generally believed to be the birthplace of the Minangkabau people.
This small traditional town sits among rice fields in soils kept fertile by the nearby volcano (Mt. Marapi). Volcanic activity also provides hot water for the communal bathing facilities, sex-segregated of course. The village contains a large mosque and a surau (a place for unmarried men to live, and study religion and traditional arts) as well as archaeological remains from pre-Islamic times.
There is much beauty in Minangkabau culture with all its glorious colour, unique decision making practices and love of good food and poetry. Like every human culture, it dimly reflects the image and glory that God intended in the creation of humanity.
• Pray that there will be a movement of followers of Jesus who will continue to embrace their cultural identity. May these believers have the discernment to preserve and enhance what is good and beautiful in the traditions of their own people.
• Ask for a new Pariangan, a village somewhere in West Sumatra, where a new Minangkabau people is birthed in the power of the Holy Spirit and from which the good news spreads through this people.
Go to Sawahlunto [and discover its colonial legacy]
Explore the Minangkabau cultural heritage [including the place of the surau]