Ramayana to Bollywood, Indonesia still loves India

[Guest guest]

Ramayana to Bollywood, Indonesia still loves India

 

Somvir (IANS)

 

New Delhi, November 22, 2005

The visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opens a new chapter

in the growing relations between Indonesia and India. The president,

whose name has a Sanskrit origin, is determined to curb terrorism

and corruption. These are issues of concern to India too.

 

India's success in high technology, sustainable economy and

educational centres has impressed Indonesia.

 

New Delhi has established an Indian Cultural Centre in the resort

island of Bali. Similarly, Balinese Hindus are building a Balinese

Hindu temple in native architectural style on the banks of the

Ganges at Rishikesh.

 

The relationship between India and Indonesia is deep-rooted. Since

centuries the people of Java and Sumatra have welcomed Indians who

came to the islands for trade. The stories of the Ramayana and the

Mahabharata integrate both the countries.

 

The epics have played a strong role in the history of Indonesia and

are part of its unique culture. They have achieved great popularity

in the socio-political life of Indonesia.

 

Even today, in the open theatre of the Prambanan in Java, Muslims

perform the Ramayana during full moon nights. This is an example for

India to be reminded of the strength of its own religious and

cultural roots.

 

During the rule of King Sriwijaya, many Indonesians went to Nalanda

University in India.

 

Roughly a thousand years before the beginning of the Christian era,

Indian contacts had been established. Swarnabhumi (Sumatra) finds

mention in Jataka stories while there is reference to 'Yava Dwipa'

or Java in the Ramayana.

 

The cult of sage Agastya was well developed in Java and we find his

statue at the famed Prambanan temple. The wave of Hinduism was

predominant throughout Java and it was not just exclusively Saivism.

 

The Mahayana of Buddhism, as a separate and integral cult, belongs

mainly to the period of Sumatran rule in Central Java. Even at that

time, it was a Tantric form which later became increasingly so in

Nepal, Cambodia and Bali.

 

In Bali, Buddhism and Saivism inseparably combined. After Agastya's

visit in Java, Sage Markandeya followed. It was he who laid the

foundation of the mother temple in Besakih, Bali.

 

Majapahit the last kingdom of Hindus established their suzerainty

over Palembang and Pahang in Sumatra, and over Malay from Singapore

to Kedah and Trenggan. But we do not find any documented history

between India and Indonesia after 1400. The two countries also show

a similar pattern in architecture.

 

Earliest Sanskrit inscription found in Annam is dated to 200 A.D. It

seems that before the 5th century, contacts began with India. Indian

immigrants in the Malay Archipelago are still called Kaling in

Medan, Indonesia. It is a survival of the name Kalinga, by which the

inhabitants of Orissa were once known.

 

In old Javanese language, we find roughly around 30 percent Sanskrit

words, which shows the close connection between India and Indonesia.

 

When Arab and Chinese trade flourished, Bali began its close links

with Java. Javanese culture had developed based on old Indian

traditions but were Indonesian in essence. The old Javanese language

became a vehicle of the classic epics.

 

All ancient inscriptions found in Indonesia up to 5th century are in

Sanskrit using Pallava script.

 

It is interesting that Indonesia absorbed the three main religions

of India: Hinduism from ancient times; Buddhism in the medieval

period; and Islam from the 12th century onwards.

 

India traders mainly from Gujarat introduced Islam into Sumatra. By

the 15th century, Islam had spread all over Java.

 

It is to be noted that the transition and absorption of diverse

religions was effected without any bloodshed. When Islam came to

Indonesia from Gujarat, India herself was under Mughal rule and the

philosophy of Sufism practiced in India had its similar impact on

Indonesia.

 

The cultural influence of Islam in India is evidenced in the

prevalence of Sufi mysticism and folk art and poetry where Hindu and

Muslim traditions were blended together. Similarly in Indonesia,

Islam and Javanese culture blended to form a unique confluence.

 

The relations between India and Indonesia underwent a bleak phase

from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Rabindranath Tagore visited

Java and Bali in 1927. Tagore stayed for two weeks in Bali and was

all praise for Balinese Hinduism.

 

But it is just not religion and culture that have brought Indonesia

and India together. Even today one can find people humming 'Kuch

kuch hota hai.' Bollywood films and songs are part of the young

modern Indonesians' entertainment fare.

 

(Somvir is a visiting lecturer of Indian culture and Vedic

philosophy at the Faculty of Letters, Udayana University, Bali.)

 

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