Number 4 on the Jam Gadang and the Events That Led to It

Number 4 on the Jam Gadang and the Events That Led to It – Jam Gadang is one of West Sumatra’s most well-known tours, located in the city of Bukittinggi. The clock, which is said to have been a gift from the Queen of the Netherlands, Wilhelmina, turns out to be unique. In the Minang language, Jam Gadang is defined as a large clock with an 80 cm diameter and a building height of 26 meters.

Jam Gadang is known as a twin clock because it has the same type of machine as Big Ben in London, England. Because the machines used are identical, and there are only two in the world. The writing of the number 4 on the big clock, which consists of four pieces on each side of the building, is the uniqueness that stands out and keeps a series of coincidental events at Jam Gadang.

The numbers on the Jam Gadang are written in Roman script, but the number four, which should be written ‘IV,’ is written ‘IIII.’ This is not due to a typo or a random occurrence, because there are no such things as coincidences in life. The number 4 on the Clock Tower, on the other hand, holds a series of events that are facts and not coincidental, which are as follows.

The Death of Four Jam Gadang Masons

The truth behind a story circulating in the community about the number four, written ‘IIII,’ remains a mystery. According to legend, the Clock Tower designed by Yazid Rajo Mangkuto does not have an iron and cement foundation like other structures. The great thing is that this Bukittinggi icon has stood firm since it was built in 1926-1927, and it is now even more beautiful.

During the Dutch East Indies, Sutan Gigi Ameh was the executor of the construction of number 4 on Jam Gadang to realize the initiative of a Fort de Kock Controleur (Bukittinggi city secretary) named Hendrik Roelof Rook Maker. Jam Gadang was constructed at the time with a mixture of lime, sand, and egg whites. This is where the mystical emerges and becomes a Minang people’s hereditary belief.

The number four, written in Roman numerals ‘IIII,’ refers to the mystical form of the Jam Gadang during the colonial period. There are two versions of the story circulating about the construction of Jam Gadang, both of which are associated with numbers and the existence of an incident that is not coincidental, namely that four people died in the process. The Roman ‘IIII’ that is not written with an ‘IV’ on this Clock Tower is to remember the four people who died.

Seeing Twin Numbers Several Times The Guardian Angel Would Like to Speak With You

The first version that circulated in the community about the number 4 on the Jam Gadang and what happened behind it was that four workers or masons who helped build the clock with the Vortmann Relinghausen machine died while constructing a tall tower out of egg white cement. Up to the number four, a different Roman ‘III’ is used instead of an ‘IV’.

Some argue that the Roman numerals on the Jam Gadang are written ‘IIII’ because the four masons died after the construction of the tower with a large clock at Fort de Cock (Bukittinggi during the Dutch East Indies) was completed.

Number 4 Order of the Queen of the Netherlands

Wilhelmina, the Dutch Queen who occupied Fort de Cock at the time, wanted to give a special gift, so the idea of building a tower with four large clocks on each side was born. The Queen, it is said, immediately ordered the number 4 on the Clock Tower in different Roman writing when this Vortmann engine clock was requested. It’s not a coincidence that Wilhelmina wanted the number 4 to be ‘IIII.’

In Roman numerals, 4 is generally written as ‘IV,’ but the Queen of the Netherlands, who wanted to give a gift with a construction cost of 3 thousand Guilders, did not want her gift clock to be made with the proper number 4. Because 4, when written in Roman numerals, becomes an abbreviation of two words from English, namely I Victory, and has the meaning ‘I Win.’

It was clear that Wilhelmina, the Queen of the Netherlands at the time, did not want to incite a rebellion in her domain. Where the Indonesians could fight back while assuming that the Dutch had surrendered during their colonial period. As a result, the Queen of the Netherlands ordered the Roman numeral ‘IIII’ to replace the number 4 on the Clock Tower, as she did with Roman numerals in general.

Furthermore, the Queen of the Netherlands directed that the roof of the tower with four large clocks be round, complete with a rooster statue facing east. Wilhelmina has a special meaning from the number 4 which is made with the Roman writing ‘IIII’ and also a roof with a statue of a rooster facing east, namely so that residents in the Kurai, Banuhampu, and Sarik Sungai Puar areas wake up early.

As a result, all of the people in the Queen of the Netherlands’ colonies can work more actively under her leadership. During the colonial period, waking up when the rooster crows became a trademark of the Jam Gadang roof. The number 4 on the Clock Tower was also made with Roman writing ‘IIII’ to ensure that no resistance or rebellion could undermine his power during the Dutch colonial period.

The Beginning of Writing the Roman Numeral 4

The numbers and the existence of the incident on the story behind the construction of the Jam Gadang, which is very unique by writing different Roman numerals, certainly raises various perceptions in the community. Furthermore, the Indonesian people have a variety of cultures that are always balanced with various legends, such as the number 4 on the big clock, which reads Roman with ‘IIII’ instead of ‘IV’.

Furthermore, the first stone was laid by a 6-year-old son of Rook Maker, and the structure was built without an iron or cement foundation. Various stories are presented here that are associated with the Roman numeral ‘III,’ which is not written ‘IV.’ The number 4 on the Clock Tower is associated with a mystical story in which sacrifices were made to four bricklayers and egg whites as reinforcement of the building.

However, according to some experts, the Clock Tower, which reads the number 4 with the Roman ‘IIII,’ has a different perspective. They revealed that the number 4 was originally written in Roman numerals, with the letter ‘I’ repeated four times. It was later changed to the Roman numeral 4 to ‘IV’ and began to be used during the reign of Louis XIV.

The number 4 on the Clock Tower, which is inscribed with the Roman numeral ‘IIII,’ is following the Roman numeral 4’s initial form of writing. It may have more to do with the Queen of the Netherlands’ decision to keep the Roman numeral 4. As it was originally written so that there would be no rebellion during her reign at the time.