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The Hindu Balinese temple offering
Hinduism in Indonesia, also known by its formal
Indonesian name Agama Hindu Dharma, refers to Hinduism as
practised 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),
Lombok
and
Kalimantan. Only about 3% of Indonesian population is officially
Hindu. In
Java in particular, a substantial number of
Muslims
follow a non-orthodox, Hindu-influenced form of Islam commonly known
as
Kejawen/Agama Jawa and Abangan Islam. Partly due to the fact
that every Indonesian citizen is required to be a registered member
of one of the six acknowledged religious communities (Islam,
Christianity [i.e.
Protestantism or
Catholicism],
Hinduism,
Buddhism and
Confucianism). Inspired by the Hindu Javanese past, several
hundred thousand 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. The Parisada Hindu Dharma changed
its name to Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia in 1984, in
recognition of its national influence spearheaded by
Gedong Bagus Oka.
[edit]
History
At the peak of its influence in the 14th century the last and
largest among Hindu Javanese empires,
Majapahit, reached far across the Indonesian archipelago. This
accomplishment is interpreted in modern nationalist discourses as an
early historical beacon of Indonesian unity and nationhood, a nation
with Java
still at its center.
That the vast majority of contemporary Javanese and Indonesians
are now Muslims is the outcome of a process of subsequent
Islamization. Like Hinduism before it, Islam first advanced into the
archipelago along powerful trade networks, gaining a firm foothold
in Java
with the rise of early Islamic polities along the northern coast.
Hinduism finally lost its status as Java's dominant state religion
during the 15th and early 16th century, as the new sultanates
expanded and the great Hindu empire
Majapahit collapsed. Even then, some smaller Hindu polities
persisted; most notably the kingdom of
Blambangan in eastern Java, which remained intact until the late
18th century.
[edit]
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 Acintya'. God Almighty in the Torajanese culture of
Central Sulawesi is known as "Puang Matua" in Aluk to dolo
belief.
- A belief that all of the gods are manifestations of this
supreme being. This belief is the same as the belief of
Smartism, which also holds that the different forms of God,
Vishnu,
Siva
are different aspects of the same Supreme Being. Lord Shiva is
also worshipped in other forms such as "Batara Guru" and
"Maharaja Dewa" (Mahadeva)
are closely identified with the Sun in local forms of Hinduism
or
Kebatinan, and even in the genie lore of Muslims.[1]/a>
- AA belief in the
Trimurti, consisting of:
- 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/a> 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 or "Deva"[1]
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./p>
TThe 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./p>
[edit]
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 (also called banjar in Bali), 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.)
A 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.
[edit]
Javanese Hinduism
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.
[
Hinduism elsewhere in the archipelago
TThe
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 % of the population as of 1995[update].
Nationally, Hindus represented only around 2 % 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.
The Tamils of Sumatra and the Indians in Jakarta practice their
own from of Hinduism, the Indians celebrating Hindu holidays more
commonly found in India, such as
Deepawali[2]
[edit]
Hindu
holidays in Indonesia
Hari Raya Galungan - Galungan Celebrates the coming of the
gods and the ancestral spirits to earth to dwell again in the homes
of the descendants. The festivities are characterized by offerings,
dances and new clothes.
Hari Raya Saraswati -
Saraswati Balinese Hindu belief that knowledge is an
essential medium to achieve the goal of life as a human being. This
day celebrates Saraswati in Bali, a special day devoted to the
Goddess of learning, science and literature. Saraswati rules the
intellectual and creative realm, and is the patron saint of
libraries and schools. For Balinese Hindus, she is celebrated as she
succeeded in taming the wandering and lustful mind of her consort,
Brahma, who was preoccupied with the goddess of material existence,
Shatarupa. On this day no one is allowed to read or write, and
offerings are made to the lontar (palm-leaf scripts), books and
shrines.
Saraswati Day is celebrated every 210-days on Saniscara Umanis
Wuku Watugunung and marks the start of the new year according to the
Balinese Pawukon calendar. Ceremonies and prayers are held at the
temples in family compounds, villages and businesses from morning to
noon. Prayers are also held in school or any other learning
institution temples. Teachers and students abandon their uniforms
for the day in place of bright and colourful ceremony gear, filling
the island with color. Children bring fruit and traditional cakes to
school for offerings at the temple[2].
Hari Raya Nyepi -
Nyepi
is a Hindu Day of Silence or the Hindu New Year in the Balinese Saka
calendar. The largest celebrations are held in Bali as well as in
Balinese Hindu communities around Indonesia. On New Year's Eve the
villages are cleaned, food is cooked for two days and in the evening
as much noise is made as possible to scare away the devils. On the
following day, Hindus do not leave their homes, cook or engage in
any activity. Streets are deserted, and tourists are not allowed to
leave hotel complexes.
Nyepi (Balinese New Year) is also determined using the
Balinese calendar (see below), the eve of Nyepi falling on the night
of the new moon whenever it occurs around March/April each year.
Therefore, the date for Nyepi changes every year, and there is not a
constant number of days difference between each Nyepi as there is
for such days as Galungan and Kuningan. To find out when Nyepi falls
in a given year, you will need information on the cycles of the moon
for that year. Whenever the new moon falls between mid-March and
mid-April, that night will be the night of great activity and
exorcism island-wide, while the next day will be the day of total
peace and quiet, where everything stops for a day.
Political context
While many Javanese have retained aspects of their indigenous and
Hindu
traditions through the centuries of Islamic influence, under the
banner of 'Javanist religion' (kejawen) or a non-orthodox 'Javanese
Islam' (abangan,
cf. Geertz 1960), no more than a few isolated communities have
consistently upheld Hinduism as the primary mark of their public
identity. One of these exceptions are the people of the remote
Tengger highlands (Hefner 1985, 1990) in the province of Eastern
Java.
[edit]
Official
recognition
Officially identifying their religion as Hinduism was not a legal
possibility for Indonesians until 1962, when it became the fifth
state-recognized religion. This recognition was initially sought by
Balinese religious organizations and granted for the sake of Bali,
where the majority were Hindu. The largest of these organizations,
Parisada Hindu Dharma Bali, changed its name to P.H.D. Indonesia
(PHDI) in 1964, reflecting subsequent efforts to define Hinduism as
a national rather than just a Balinese affair (Ramstedt 1998).
Religious identity became a life and death issue for many
Indonesians around the same time as Hinduism gained recognition,
namely in the wake of the violent anti-Communist purge of 1965-66
(Beatty 1999). Persons lacking affiliation with a state
recognized-religion tended to be classed as atheists and hence as
communist suspects.
Despite the inherent disadvantages of joining a national
religious minority, a deep concern for the preservation of their
traditional ancestor religions made Hinduism a more palatable option
than Islam for several ethnic groups in the outer islands.
In the early seventies, the
Toraja
people of
Sulawesi were the first to realize this opportunity by seeking
shelter for their indigenous ancestor religion under the broad
umbrella of 'Hinduism', followed by the Karo Batak of
Sumatra in 1977 (Bakker 1995).
In central and southern Kalimantan, a large Hindu movement has
grown among the local indigenous Dayak population which lead to a
mass declaration of 'Hinduism' on this island in 1980. However, this
was different to the Javanese case, in that conversions followed a
clear ethnic division. Indigenous Dayak were confronted with a
mostly Muslim population of government-sponsored (and predominantly
Javanese) migrants and officials, and deeply resentful at the
dispossession of their land and its natural resources.
Compared to their counterparts among Javanese Hindus, many
Dayak
leaders were also more deeply concerned about Balinese efforts to
standardize Hindu ritual practice nationally; fearing a decline of
their own unique 'Hindu Kaharingan' traditions and renewed external
domination.
By contrast, most Javanese were slow to consider Hinduism at the
time, lacking a distinct organization along ethnic lines and fearing
retribution from locally powerful Islamic organizations like the
Nahdatul Ulama (NU). The youth wing of the NU had been active in the
persecution not only of communists but of 'Javanist' or
'anti-Islamic' elements within Sukarno's Indonesian Nationalist
Party (PNI) during the early phase of the killings (Hefner 1987).
Practitioners of 'Javanist' mystical traditions thus felt compelled
to declare themselves Muslims out of a growing concern for their
safety.
[edit]
Under
Suharto's Rule
The initial assessment of having to abandon 'Javanist' traditions
in order to survive in an imminent Islamic state proved incorrect.
President
Sukarno's eventual successor,
Suharto, adopted a distinctly nonsectarian approach in his
so-called 'new order' (orde baru) regime. Old fears resurfaced,
however, with Suharto's 'Islamic turn' in the 1990s. Initially a
resolute defender of Javanist values,
Suharto began to make overtures to Islam at that time, in
response to wavering public and military support for his government.
A powerful signal was his authorization and personal support of
the new 'Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals' (ICMI), an
organization whose members openly promoted the Islamization of
Indonesian state and society (Hefner 1997). Concerns grew as ICMI
became the dominant civilian faction in the national bureaucracy,
and initiated massive programs of Islamic education and
mosque-building through the Ministry of Religion (departemen agama),
once again targeting Javanist strongholds. Around the same time,
there were a series of mob killings by Muslim extremists of people
they suspected to have been practicing traditional Javanese methods
of healing by magical means.
In terms of their political affiliation, many contemporary
Javanists and recent converts to Hinduism had been members of the
old PNI, and have now joined the new nationalist party of
Megawati Sukarnoputri. Informants from among this group
portrayed their return to the 'religion of
Majapahit' (Hinduism) as a matter of nationalist pride, and
displayed a new sense political self-confidence.
[edit]
In a Social
Context
A common feature among new Hindu communities in Java is that they
tend to rally around recently built temples (pura) or around
archaeological temple sites (candi) which are being reclaimed as
places of Hindu worship.
One of several new Hindu temples in eastern Java is Pura
Mandaragiri Sumeru Agung, located on the slope of
Mt.
Semeru, Java's highest mountain. When the temple was completed
in July 1992, with the generous aid of wealthy donors from
Bali,
only a few local families formally confessed to Hinduism. A pilot
study in December 1999 revealed that the local
Hindu
community now has grown to more than 5000 households.
Similar mass conversions have 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.
A further important site is 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).
A further
Hindu
movement in the earliest stages of development was observed in the
vicinity of the newly completed Pura Pucak Raung (in the Eastern
Javanese district of Glenmore), which is mentioned in Balinese
literature as the place where the Hindu saint
Maharishi Markandeya gathered followers for an expedition to
Bali,
whereby he is said to have brought Hinduism to the island 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 site may be the location of 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.
A new
temple is being built East of Solo (Surakarta)
It is a Hindu temple that has miniatures of 50 sacred sites around
the world. It is also an active kundalini yoga meditation centre
teaching the sacred javanese tradition of sun and water meditation.
There are many westerners as well as javanese joining in.
Although there has been a more pronounced history of resistance
to Islamization in East Java, Hindu communities are also expanding
in Central Java (Lyon 1980), for example in Klaten, near the ancient
Hindu monuments of Prambanan.
[edit]
In an Economic
Context
[edit]
Census 2000
According to the 2000 census Hindus consisted 1.79% of the total
population(Down from 1.81% in 1990) with 88.05% in Bali (Down from
93.18% in 1990) and 5.89% in Central Kalimantan (Down from 15.75% in
1990,). The decline in Bali is largely attributed to a lower birth
rate and immigration of Muslims from Java. In Central Kalimantan
there has been progressive settlement of Madurese from Madura
although this somewhat halted following communal violence in 2001.[3]
The details are given below:
Province (2000 Cen)  |
Hindus |
Total |
% Hindu |
| North Sumatera |
18,907 |
11,429,919 |
0.17% |
| West Sumatera |
0 |
4,220,318 |
0.00% |
| Riau |
4,385 |
4,676,025 |
0.09% |
| Jambi |
410 |
2,386,866 |
0.02% |
| South Sumatera |
17,874 |
6,756,564 |
0.26% |
| Bengkulu |
2,033 |
1,396,687 |
0.15% |
| Lampung |
95,458 |
6,631,686 |
1.44% |
| Bangka Belitung Islands |
76 |
945,682 |
0.01% |
| DKI Jakarta |
19,331 |
8,482,068 |
0.23% |
| West Java |
8,177 |
35,279,182 |
0.02% |
| Central Java |
28,677 |
30,775,846 |
0.09% |
| D.I. Yogyakarta |
2,746 |
3,026,209 |
0.09% |
| East Java |
92,930 |
34,456,897 |
00.27% |
| Banten |
5,498 |
7,967,473 |
0.07% |
| Bali |
2,740,314 |
3,112,331 |
88.05% |
| Nusa Tenggara Barat |
115,297 |
3,805,537 |
3.03% |
| Nusa Tenggara Timur |
5,698 |
3,904,373 |
0.15% |
| West Kalimantan |
2,914 |
3,721,368 |
0.08% |
| Central Kalimantan |
105,256 |
1,785,875 |
5.89% |
| South Kalimantan |
6,288 |
2,956,784 |
0.21% |
| East Kalimantan |
3,221 |
2,414,989 |
0.13% |
| North Sulawesi |
10,994 |
1,972,813 |
0.56% |
| Central Sulawesi |
99,443 |
2,053,167 |
4.84% |
| South Sulawesi |
87,660 |
7,759,574 |
1.13% |
| Southeast Sulawesi |
52,103 |
1,755,193 |
2.97% |
| Gorontalo |
0 |
833,720 |
0.00% |
| Irian Jaya |
2,068
| 2,094,803 |
0.10% |
| Indonesia |
3,527,758 |
196,601,949 |
1.79% |
[4]
IIt should be noted that the Indonesian government had previously
classified the approximately 600,000
Tenggerese of East Java as Buddhists, even though the core of
their religious practice is Hindu.
As of 2008, The Ministry of Religious Affairs estimates that
there are around 10 million Hindus in the country.[5]
[edit]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]
Further reading
External links
