Hinduism in modern-day Southeast Asia

[Guest guest]

Hinduism in modern-day Southeast Asia

Vibrant Hindu communities remain in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand,

and Indonesia (as in Java, Bali, Sulawesi and Kalimantan) (for

details, see Agama Hindu Dharma). One notably Southeast Asian aspect

of Hinduism is the festival of Thaipusam.

 

The resurgence of Hinduism in Indonesia is occurring in all parts of

the country. In the early seventies, the Toraja people of Sulawesi

were the first to be identified under the umbrella of 'Hinduism',

followed by the Karo Batak of Sumatra in 1977 and the Ngaju Dayak of

Kalimantan in 1980.

 

The growth of Hinduism has been driven also by the famous Javanese

prophesies of Sabdapalon and Jayabaya.

 

Many recent converts to Hinduism had been members of the families of

Sukarno's PNI, and now support Megawati Sukarnoputri. This return

return to the 'religion of Majapahit' (Hinduism) is a matter of

nationalist pride.

 

The new Hindu communities in Java tend to be concentrated around

recently built temples (pura) or around archaeological temple sites

(candi) which are being reclaimed as places of Hindu worship. An

important new Hindu temple in eastern Java is Pura Mandaragiri Sumeru

Agung, located on the slope of Mt Sumeru, Java's highest mountain.

Mass conversions have also occurred in the region around Pura Agung

Blambangan, another new temple, built on a site with minor

archaeological remnants attributed to the kingdom of Blambangan, the

last Hindu polity on Java, and Pura Loka Moksa Jayabaya (in the

village of Menang near Kediri), where the Hindu king and prophet

Jayabaya is said to have achieved spiritual liberation (moksa).

Another site is the new Pura Pucak Raung in East Java, which is

mentioned in Balinese literature as the place from where Maharishi

Markandeya took Hinduism to Bali in the fifth century AD.

 

An example of resurgence around major archaeological remains of

ancient Hindu temple sites was observed in Trowulan near

Mojokerto,the capital of the legendary Hindu empire Majapahit. A

local Hindu movement is struggling to gain control of a newly

excavated temple building which they wish to see restored as a site

of active Hindu worship. The temple is to be dedicated to Gajah Mada,

the man attributed with transforming the small Hindu kingdom of

Majapahit into an empire. Although there has been a more pronounced

history of resistance to Islamization in East Java, Hindu communities

are also expanding in Central Java near the ancient Hindu monuments

of Prambanan.

 

The current estimates of Hinduism in Indonesia range from 4 to 8

percent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_Southeast_Asia#Hinduism_in_mo

dern-day_Southeast_Asia