Indonesia's Agama Hindu Dharma

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Agama Hindu Dharma is the formal name of Hinduism in Indonesia. It is

practised by 93% of the population of Bali, but also in Sumatra, Java

(especially by the Tenggerese people on the east), and Kalimantan.

Although, officially, only about 3% of Indonesian population is

Hindu, those following Hindu traditional beliefs together with their

nominal religion is more than 30%. This group lives mainly in Java,

which forms the majority of the Javanese Muslims, are known as

Abangan, which means "Easy-going muslims".

 

The advent of Soeharto's 'new order' resulted in an increasing

Indonesianisation of both Hindu Dharma and Parisada Hindu Dharma,

partly due to the fact that every Indonesian citizen was now required

to be a registered member of one of the five acknowledged religious

communities (Islam, Christianity [i.e. Protestantism], Catholicism,

Hinduism and Buddhism). Inspired by the glorious Hindu Javanese past,

a large number of Javanese converted to Hinduism in the 1960s and

1970s. When the adherents of the ethnic religions Aluk To Dolo

(Sa'dan Toraja) and Kaharingan (Ngaju, Luangan) claimed official

recognition of their traditions, the Ministry of Religion classified

them as Hindu variants in 1968 and 1980. Due to Hindu missionary work

by Balinese and Indians living in Medan, several members of the Karo

in North Sumatra started to embrace Hinduism in 1977. Having become a

truly national representative of Hinduism, the Parisada Hindu Dharma

changed its name to Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia in 1984.

 

General beliefs and practices

Practitioners of Agama Hindu Dharma share many common beliefs, which

include:

 

A belief in one supreme being called 'Ida Sanghyang Widi Wasa', 'Sang

Hyang Tunggal', or 'Sang Hyang Cintya'.

A belief that all of the gods are manifestations of this supreme

being. This belief is same as the belief of Smartism, which also

holds that the differents forms of God, Vishnu, Siva are different

aspects of the same Supreme Being.

A belief in the Trimurti, consisting of:

Brahma, the creator

Wisnu or Vishnu, the preserver

Ciwa or Shiva, the destroyer

A belief in all of the other Hindu gods and goddesses (Dewa and

Bharata)

The sacred texts found in Agama Hindu Dharma are the Vedas. Only two

of the Vedas reached Bali in the past, and they are the basis of

Balinese Hinduism. Other sources of religious information include the

Puranas and the Itihasa (mainly Ramayana and the Mahabharata).

 

One of Hinduism's primary ethical concerns is the concept of ritual

purity. Another important distinguishing feature, which traditionally

helps maintain ritual purity, is the division of society into the

traditional occupational groups, or varna (literally, color) of

Hinduism: Brahmins (priests, brahmana in Indonesian), Kshatriya

(ruler-warriors, satriya in Indonesian), Vaishya (merchants-farmers,

waisya in Indonesian), and Shudra (commoners-servants, sudra in

Indonesian). Like Islam and Buddhism, Hinduism was greatly modified

when adapted to Indonesian society.

 

The caste system, although present in form, was never rigidly

applied. The epics Mahabharata (Great Battle of the Descendants of

Bharata) and Ramayana (The Travels of Rama), became enduring

traditions among Indonesian believers, expressed in shadow puppet

(wayang) and dance performances.

 

The Indonesian government has recognized Hinduism as one of the

country's five officially sanctioned, monotheistic religions. Partly

as a result, followers of various tribal and animistic religions have

identified themselves as Hindu in order to avoid harassment or

pressure to convert to Islam or Christianity. Furthermore, Indonesian

nationalists have laid great stress on the achievements of the

Majapahit Empire – a Hindu state – which has helped attract certain

Indonesians to Hinduism. These factors have led to a certain

resurgence of Hinduism outside of its Balinese stronghold.

 

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Hinduism in Bali

Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with art and ritual, and is

less closely preoccupied with scripture, law, and belief than Islam

in Indonesia. Balinese Hinduism lacks the traditional Hindu emphasis

on cycles of rebirth and reincarnation, but instead is concerned with

a myriad of local and ancestral spirits. As with kebatinan, these

deities are thought to be capable of harm. Balinese place great

emphasis on dramatic and aesthetically satisfying acts of ritual

propitiation of these spirits at temple sites scattered throughout

villages and in the countryside. Each of these temples has a more or

less fixed membership; every Balinese belongs to a temple by virtue

of descent, residence, or some mystical revelation of affiliation.

Some temples are associated with the family house compound, others

are associated with rice fields, and still others with key geographic

sites. Ritualized states of self-control (or lack thereof) are a

notable feature of religious expression among the people, who for

this reason have become famous for their graceful and decorous

behavior. One key ceremony at a village temple, for instance,

features a special performance of a dance-drama (a battle between the

mythical characters Rangda the witch (representing evil) and Barong

the lion or dragon (representing good)), in which performers fall

into a trance and attempt to stab themselves with sharp knives.

 

Rituals of the life cycle are also important occasions for religious

expression and artistic display. Ceremonies at puberty, marriage,

and, most notably, cremation at death provide opportunities for

Balinese to communicate their ideas about community, status, and the

afterlife. (The tourist industry has not only supported spectacular

cremation ceremonies among Balinese of modest means, but also has

created a greater demand for them.)

 

Balinese religion is hierarchically organized, with one small segment

of the aristocracy – the brahmin, or priestly, class – being the most

prestigious. A brahmin priest is not affiliated with any temple but

acts as a spiritual leader and adviser to individual families in

various villages scattered over the island. These priests are

consulted when ceremonies requiring holy water are conducted. On

other occasions, folk healers or curers may be hired.

 

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Javanese Hinduism

Main article: Hinduism in Java

Both Java and Sumatra were subject to considerable cultural influence

from the Indian subcontinent during the first and second millennia of

the Common Era. Many Hindu temples were built, including Prambanan

near Yogyakarta, which has been designated a World Heritage Site; and

Hindu kingdoms flourished, of which the most important was Majapahit.

 

In the sixth and seventh centuries many maritime kingdoms arose in

Sumatra and Java which controlled the waters in the Straits of

Malacca and flourished with the increasing sea trade between China

and India and beyond. During this time, scholars from India and China

visited these kingdoms to translate literary and religious texts.

 

Majapahit was based in Central Java, from where it ruled a large part

of what is now western Indonesia. The remnants of the Majapahit

kingdom shifted to Bali during the sixteenth century as Muslim

kingdoms in the western part of the island gained influence.

 

Hinduism has survived in varying degrees and forms on Java; in recent

years, conversions to Hinduism have been on the rise, particularly in

regions surrounding a major Hindu religious site, such as the Klaten

region near the Prambanan temple. Certain ethnic groups, such as the

Tenggerese and Osings, are also associated with Hindu religious

traditions.

 

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Hinduism elsewhere in the archipelago

Main article: Hinduism in Sulawesi

The Bodha sect of Sasak people on the island of Lombok are non-

Muslim; their religion is a fusion of Hinduism and Buddhism with

animism; it is considered Buddhist by the government.

 

Among the non-Bali communities considered to be Hindu by the

government are, for example, the Dayak adherents of the Kaharingan

religion in Kalimantan Tengah, where government statistics counted

Hindus as 15.8 percent of the population as of 1995. Nationally,

Hindus represented only around 2 percent of the population in the

early 1990s.

 

Many Manusela and Nuaulu people of Seram follow Naurus, a syncretism

of Hinduism with animist and Protestant elements.

 

Similarly, the Tana Toraja of Sulawesi have identified their

animistic religion as Hindu.

 

The Batak of Sumatra have identified their animist traditions with

Hinduism.