Lombok’s Sade Village Begins Reconstruction After Fire
Sasak Heritage Rebuilt: Sade Village Breaks Ground on Post-Fire Reconstruction
Kabarsaji.com – The charred remnants of one of Indonesia's most iconic traditional settlements are giving way to fresh timber and mortar. In Sade Village, nestled within Pujut District of Central Lombok Regency in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), residents gathered on Thursday, September 3, 2026, to perform the Nyemulak ceremony — a post-planting rite that signals the raising of the first structural pillars. The ritual formally opened the multi-year effort to reconstruct the Sasak-style houses and the village mosque that a devastating fire had reduced to ash.
Sade has long served as a living showcase of Sasak architectural tradition: stilted wooden dwellings arranged in concentric rings around a central mosque, connected by narrow pathways and flanked by berugak gazebos and sekenam pavilions. Its destruction represented not merely a loss of shelter but the near-erasure of a cultural landscape that drew international attention and sustained local livelihoods through tourism.
An Auspicious Start Tied to Maulid
Central Lombok Regent Lalu Pathul Bahri addressed the assembled community during the Nyemulak observance, explaining the timing choice in religious terms.
"The birth month of the Prophet Muhammad (Maulid) is an auspicious time, which is why construction on the traditional houses in Sade begins today."
Bahri extended gratitude to the donors whose contributions made the rebuilding financially viable, framing their generosity as an investment in communal recovery. He urged continued public backing for the project, linking it to intergenerational welfare.
"We hope the community will continue to support this reconstruction for the well-being of the nation's future generations."
The Regent also stressed procedural integrity, assuring residents that every rupiah of donated aid would be tracked openly and in line with applicable regulations.
"The reconstruction process is being conducted transparently and in compliance with regulations for the benefit of the public."
Governor Calls for Patience, Transparency, and Cultural Fidelity
NTB Governor Lalu M. Iqbal framed the Nyemulak milestone as a critical inflection point in what he described as a protracted rebuilding campaign. He cautioned that the scale of work ahead demands sustained patience from both workers and the wider public.
"Patience is required throughout this construction process."
Given the volume of external donations flowing into the project, Iqbal proposed establishing a dedicated task force paired with a consolidated financial account so that all incoming assistance could be pooled, audited, and deployed without opacity.
"Incoming aid is being pooled together."
The Governor further pressed for acceleration of a semi-permanent museum structure, arguing that the village's prolonged closure — in effect since the reconstruction plan was activated — has left visitors without a point of entry and deprived local families of tourism-linked income.
"Visiting tourists want to see what Sade looks like; the area has been closed since the reconstruction process began."
Most emphatically, Iqbal insisted that the rebuilt settlement must replicate its original architectural character rather than adopt modernized or simplified forms. He positioned the undertaking as a landmark of cultural stewardship for the province.
"This construction process must not be rushed. This is the first cultural preservation project in NTB."
Scope of Damage and Phased Build-Out
Lalu M. Faozal, serving as coordinator for the Sade Traditional House Reconstruction initiative, confirmed that the project reflects a unanimous decision reached among all households in the Sade hamlet. He reiterated that the chosen date carried communal and spiritual significance.
"Today is the auspicious day agreed upon for erecting the main pillars to rebuild the Sade Mosque and traditional houses."
The inventory of structures slated for reconstruction is extensive: seventy-five traditional dwellings, eight berugak gazebos, six sekenam pavilions, the village mosque, two public restroom facilities, and sixty-nine souvenir shops. Faozal clarified that although the Nyemulak ceremony inaugurates the overall build-out, completion will unfold in sequenced phases governed by a master reconstruction plan that places structural safety at the forefront of scheduling decisions.
"The entire construction process begins today, but the work cannot be completed all at once; instead, construction is proceeding according to a reconstruction plan that prioritizes safety."
Why the Rebuild Matters Beyond the Village
Sade's significance extends well past its geographic boundaries. For decades the settlement functioned as an open-air archive of Sasak building techniques — joinery methods, timber sourcing, spatial organization around communal worship — that exist nowhere else in such concentrated, intact form. The fire therefore posed a question that transcends local recovery: whether a vanishing architectural tradition could be faithfully replicated by a new generation of builders working under modern safety codes and material constraints.
The answers will emerge over the coming months and years. What is already clear from the September 3 ceremony is that the community chose to anchor its recovery in ritual, collective decision-making, and religious auspiciousness — the same cultural grammar that shaped the original village. The reconstruction, in that sense, is as much a reaffirmation of Sasak identity as it is an engineering project, and its success will be measured not only in completed structures but in whether the rebuilt settlement continues to tell, in timber and stone, the story of a people's enduring relationship with place, faith, and craft.
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