PM Modi in Bali for G20 summit: The Hindu legacy of Indonesia and how the religion still thrives there

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has departed from India to attend the G20 summit , to be held on 15-16 November, in Bali in Indonesia.

Leaving for Bali, Indonesia, to take part in the G-20 Summit. I will have the opportunity to interact with various world leaders on a wide range of issues. I will also be addressing a community programme. @g20org https://t.co/lcoFLZaTtt

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 14, 2022

He will join world leaders , including US President Joe Biden, UK’s Rishi Sunak, China’s Xi Jinping among others (Russia’s Vladimir Putin has decided to skip the annual meet) and will seek solutions to the several global troubles on the Muslim-majority country’s mostly Hindu ‘Island of Gods’.

Interestingly, Indonesia, which is the world’s most populous Muslim country, has a historical and cultural connection to India through Hinduism, which reached the island nation between 1.000 and 1.500 years ago.

There are no visible restriction on the practice of Hinduism and several parts of the country have Hindu temples, which clearly shows that Hinduism peacefully coexists with Islam.

Hinduism in Bali

While Hindus comprise two per cent of Indonesia’s population, in Bali, where the G20 summit will be held, close to 90 per cent of the population practices Hinduism. However, the Hinduism practised in Bali is different from that practised in India.

Balinese Hinduism is a mix of years of contact with different cultures, most notably the Indian one.

According to the paper Hindu Rituals in India and Bali by Balinese Historian Ni Wayen Pasek Ariati, Hindu culture — originally from the mainland of India — is believed to have first been brought to the Indonesian Archipelago during the first millennium CE, “a time when Buddhist monks and priests of the Shaiva form of Hinduism joined the voyages of seafaring merchants who travelled to and from the archipelago as part of the trading networks that connected China with India, the mid-east, and Europe via the archipelago.”

Ariati says Hinduism subsequently prospered but took on its own form — a fusion of Indian Hindu teachings/customs and local Balinese beliefs/traditions.

Balinese Hindus like their Indian counterparts believe in karma and reincarnation. The Balinese Hindu also believes that every aspect of existence has a presiding god or goddess that can and should be prayed to for the service they provide in the functioning of said aspect. Many Balinese deities are parallel in function to those worshiped in India. For instance, in Bali, the goddess of rice wealth and fertility is Dewi Sri, similar to Goddess Lakshmi in India.

Along with traditional Hindu gods such as Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, Balinese Hindus worship a range of deities unique to their branch of the religion. Sang Hyang Widhi is the designation for one God in Balinese Hinduism.

Such is the prevalence of Balinese Hinduism that it teems with temples devoted to various Hindu gods. These temples are mostly open air shrines, laid out in a particular style in an enclosed compound with characteristic Meru-pagoda like tiered roofs and split gate entrance. Hence, the name — Hindu ‘Island of Gods’.

One of the most famous Hindu temples in Bali is Pura Lempuyang, which is also considered one of the holiest temples in Bali. Dedicated to the supreme god, it is situated 1,175 m above sea level because of which it is also called The Temple of Thousand Steps. One has to climb 1700 steps to get to the temple.

Pura Besakih, Pura Goa Lawah, Pura Taman Ayun and Pura Ulun Danu Bratan are just some of the other famous Hindu temples in Bali.

Hinduism in Indonesia

While Hinduism is the majority religion in Bali, it also is prevalent in other parts of Indonesia, including in Java, one of the main islands in the archipelago nation, home to the country’s capital, Jakarta.

The powerful Hindu kingdom of Majapahit flourished here from about the 13th to the 15th centuries, leaving its impact on culture, language and landscape. It is said that the power of Majapahit reached its height in the mid-14th century under the leadership of King Hayam Wuruk and his prime minister, Gajah Mada.

Today, Indonesia’s national emblem is the Garuda, which is also a deeply respected symbol in Hindu mythology for being the mount of Lord Vishnu.

There are also several Hindu temples across Indonesia, one of the most famous is the Prambanan temple complex. Located near Bokoharjo, on the island of Java, it is one of the largest Hindu temples in Southeast Asia and is dedicated to the Trimurti of Hinduism — Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.

In the main courtyard, Candi Shiva Mahadeva, dedicated to Shiva, is not only the largest of the temples but also the finest. The main spire soars 47-metre high and the temple is lavishly carved. The ‘medallions’ that decorate its base have a characteristic Prambanan motif – small lions in niches flanked by kalpatura (trees of heaven) and a menagerie of stylised half-human, half-bird kinnara (heavenly beings). The vibrant scenes carved onto the inner wall of the gallery encircling the temple are from the Ramayana – they tell how Lord Rama’s wife, Sita, is abducted and how Hanuman, the monkey god, and Sugriwa, the white-monkey general, eventually find and release her.

In 1991, Prambanan was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Hinduism and Indonesia’s culture

Hinduism has also encoded into the Indonesian cultural fabric through the arts. The Ramayana ballet, performed in the Javanese style has been running continuously since 1961. In 2012, it was anointed by the Guinness Book as the most continuously staged performance in the world.

In fact, many of the performers of the Ramayana ballet conducted at the Prambanan temple complex are Muslim. But they say, “Muslims are Muslims with Hindu influence.”

Wayang kulit, the traditional shadow puppet shows, also retell the ancient stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. These tales are brought to silhouetted life on a screen, using backlit figures cut from raw buffalo hide.

Apart from the arts, a large amount of Sanskrit loanwords are found in regional languages as well as in standard Indonesian.

Hinduism’s cultural connect with Indonesia is also on display through the Arjuna Wijaya Chariot statue, situated in Jakarta. The imposing monument depicts a scene from the Mahabharata where Lord Krishna is riding a chariot with Arjuna holding a bow and arrow and the chariot is being pulled by eight golloping horses.

The horses as per Javenese tradition symbolise eight philosophies of leadership called Asta Brata, namely, Kisma (Earth), Surya (Sun), Agni (fire), Kartika (stars), Baruna (ocean), Samirana (wind), Tirta (rain) and Candra (month).

Built in 1987, the statue, standing just next to Monas, which is the National Monument of Indonesia, is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Jakarta.

All in all, Hindus have a peaceful existence in Indonesia, which dates back to many, many centuries.

With inputs from agencies

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