Batak stone chairs where village councils met, with a grim history of trials and executions.
Ambarita is a traditional Batak village on Samosir's east shore, known for a courtyard of carved stone chairs and a stone table set under a tree. This is where the king and village elders once held council, judged disputes, and sentenced prisoners. Guides tell how condemned captives were tried at the chairs, then taken to a second set of stones nearby to be executed, in some accounts cannibalised, before such practices ended.
Around the stones stand restored tongkonan-style Batak houses with their high saddle roofs and painted gables.
The story is dark and the guides lean into it, so take the gorier details with some scepticism. Even so, the megalithic stones and the village layout are real and give a vivid sense of old Batak justice.
Getting there
Ambarita is on the east coast of Samosir, about 10 to 15 minutes by scooter north of the Tuk Tuk peninsula. Car ferries from Ajibata near Parapat also dock at Ambarita, making it a common arrival point with a vehicle. The stone-chair complex is a short walk from the village waterfront.
Best time
Go in the morning for fewer groups and softer light on the houses and stones. Any dry day works, as the site is compact and quickly seen.
Good to know
Pay the small entrance fee and expect a local guide to attach to you and expect a tip; agree the amount first. The execution stories are theatrical, so enjoy them without taking every claim literally.
They formed the council and court of the village, where the king and elders met to settle disputes and try wrongdoers. A separate set of stones nearby was used, according to local accounts, for executions.
Guides describe captives being tried, executed, and in some versions eaten, and ritual cannibalism is part of old Batak history. The specific tales told to visitors are dramatised, so treat the details as folklore rather than fact.
Tomok is known for royal stone graves and the Sigale-gale puppet, while Ambarita centres on the stone chairs and their courtroom history. They sit close together on the east coast and are easy to combine in one outing.
Add it to a route across Indonesia and we will work out the travel time and cost between every stop.
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