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'''Hinduism in Southeast Asia''' influenced the
Champa kingdom in
Vietnam, the
Srivijayan kingdom on
Sumatra, the
Singhasari kingdom and the
Majapahit Empire based in
Java,
Bali, and a number of the islands of the
Philippine archipelago. The civilization of
India influenced the languages, scripts, calendars, and artistic aspects of these peoples and nations. To quote from the Wikipedia article on
India, the civilizing influence of "abstract qualities such as hospitality, family values, acceptance and toleration of differences, resilience and co-existence" somewhat moderates other aspects of the
human condition.
==Earliest known times==
Indian scholars wrote about the
Dvipantara or
Jawa Dwipa Hindu kingdom in
Java and
Sumatra around
200 BC.
The
Taruma kingdom occupied West Jawa around
400.
Buddhist influence about
425.
==Dvaravati period==
Other Indic influences, such as
Theravada Buddhism, held sway during the
Dvaravati period (6th to 11th century), which survive in
Sri Lanka,
Myanmar (formerly
Burma),
Cambodia, and
Thailand.
==Seafaring Peoples==
These peoples engaged in extensive trade, which attracted the attention of the
Mongols,
Chinese and
Japanese, as well as
Islamic traders, who reached the Aceh area of
Sumatra in the
1100s.
==Java==
The
Singhasari kingdom fell to the Majapahit who allied with Mongols
1293 to defeat the Singhasari. The Majapahit then turned on the
Kublai Khan's forces and drove them out. This established Majapahit hegemony over Java. There remain Hindu communities in Java. Today, the
Tenggerese, some
Osings, and to some extent the
Baduis are still Hindus.
==Sumatra==
The last prince of the
Srivijayan kingdom of Sumatra, after the loss to the Majapahit, converted to Islam in
1414, and founded the
Sultanate of Malacca on the
Straits of Malacca between Sumatra and the
Malay Peninsula. As the
Portuguese came to trade for spices, they began to ally with the Islamic powers, which did not help the Majapahit. One third of the Bataks, particularly the Toba and Karo
Bataks.
==Bali==
The last Hindu court eventually retreated from Java to
Bali about
1500. The resurgence of Hinduism in Indonesia is led by Balinese Hindus.
==Borneo and Sulawesi==
The
Dayaks, the original inhabitants of Borneo, follow the Kaharingan variety of
Hinduism even now. The Dayak Hinduism is allied to the Balinese Hinduism.
==The Philippines==
Until the arrival of an Arab trader to
Sulu 1450 and
Ferdinand Magellan, who sailed in behalf of
Spain 1521, the chiefs of many Philippine islands were called ''
Rajahs'', and the script was derived from
Brahmi. Even today, the Tagalog (Filipino) word for teacher is ''guru''.
In the archipelago that was to become the Philippines, the statues of the Hindu gods were hidden to prevent their destruction by a religion which destroyed all
idols. One statue, a 4-pound gold statue of a Indo-Malayan goddess was found in
Mindanao in
1917, which now sits in the
Field Museum of Natural History in
Chicago, and is dated from the period
1200s to early
1300s. Another gold artifact of
Garuda, the
phoenix who is the mount of
Vishnu was found on
Palawan.
==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.
==External links==
*
Hindu-Buddhist Java and Southeast Asia
*
Hindu-Kaharingan Tiwah ceremony in Borneo
*
Hindu revival in Java
