In this post, I attempt to highlight the dogged struggle of the minority Indonesian Hindu community to preserve their Dharma and identity against State power that aimed to de-legitimize Hinduism under pressure from orthodox Muslim groups making Hindu community sitting ducks for conversion. Today, Indonesia is celebrated as a beacon of religious tolerance especially in comparison to others countries with Muslim majority. But that was not how it began.
Early on during my stint in Jakarta, I visited Pura Aditya Raya, one of the 10 Balinese Hindu temples here. To my surprise, this temple was very different a Hindu temple I would have expected to find. I mean, yes, there was Ganesha, there was Saraswati too in the complex but these weren’t the main deities. The central figure was a pillar. A fellow devoted mentioned this is Padmasana pillar symbolizing Brahma Vishnu Mahesh. Why was a pillar so important to the local Hindus? What happened to the Lingas and murtis? Curiosity caught the better of me and I was catapult on this journey of studying Indonesia’s Hindu past and present. That’s how I stumbled upon this story of Hindu renaissance in Indonesia. A fascinating story it is.
Read More at https://dharmorakshtirakshitah.wordpress.com/2020/05/08/post-independence-hindu-renaissance-in-indonesia/
Comments