The origin of the Malay surau
This short note by R. A. Kern argues that the Malay surau (village chapel) is a linguistic and architectural continuation of a pre-Islamic Batak pagan temple called suro or parsuroan.
Summary
Kern challenges the long-standing assumption, based on Junghuhn’s 1847 account, that the Batak had no temples. He marshals evidence from Hagen’s 1883 observation of a small elevated spirit-house at Nagasaribu and, more substantially, from H. H. Bartlett’s fieldwork in the Pardembanan district, which documented a pasuroan — a small structure on very high posts, entered only by the datu for offerings to debata and padju-padjuan (p. 179–180). Kern then traces the word suro across the region: in Minangkabau it became surau (a small mosque not used for Friday prayers); in Mandailing it names the village mosque; in Palembang the old spirit-house (rumah dewa) was replaced by the Muslim surau; and in Banten the Old-Sundanese balaj (mountain-top ancestor sanctuary) became the modern bale (village mosque) (p. 180–181). He extends the etymology to Fijian soro and Toraja suru’, both relating to supplication and offering, and concludes that the Malayan surau likely had a pre-Islamic predecessor connected with ancestor-worship (p. 181).