Â鶹Éç

Ancient and Archaeology  permalink

Hinduism history in Bali

• Message 1. 

  Posted by Reinhard (U15054766) on Tuesday, 6th December 2011

  The colonization of Bali dates back tens of thousands of years. Very early smaller groups of people lived in Bali. Stone tools are witnessing today the people of the Neolithic time. By further influx of residents of East Java population has increased then a few hundred years before BC. The coastal inhabitants of Java either swam across to the island, or have migrated across a land bridge.
  
  About 300 years BC. The Bronze Age began in Bali. Farmers cultivated the land with stone tools and used water buffalo for rice cultivation. There cultivated pigs and poultry. From this period dates a huge bronze gong, known as the "Moon of Pejeng". This masterpiece is considered the largest known relic from the Bronze Age in Southeast Asia. The "Moon of Pejeng" now hangs in the temple Pura Penataran Asih in Pejeng, near Ubud, and is treated by the indigenous population still as a shrine.
  
  As early as about 2000 years ago, Hinduism came to Indonesia, probably by sailors and traders from India, which have been attracted by the wealth of the islands. It created a number of kingdoms and dynasties, which lead to war against one another, and another time made a pact together. The life of the population in Bali was characterized by feudalism, but well-ordered. It developed a variety of skills and arts that we still admire today, and still many Balinese guarantee a steady income. Although Bali was even more densly populated than Java until the 19th Century, the rulers where mostly Javanese kingdoms. Beginning with the Islamization of Java many of the Hindu leaders and schoolars had to flee from Java and used Bali as a refuge. Even today the population of Bali is 90% Hindu. The rich Hindu culture of the island has produced over the centuries a number of temples and burial sites, which are nowadays often commercialized as tourist attractions. Here is a small selection:
  
  1. Gunung Kawi is a grave system of the 11th Century and is today one of the most impressive religious sites in Bali. From the village of Tampaksiring near Ubud, Gunung Kasi can be reached on a staircase that was hewn into the rock and deep into a gorge. From the cliffs nine tombs were carved. Especially in the early morning or later afternoon, one can still feel the splendor and spirit of the past.
  
  2. In the District of Klungkung the temple Pura Goa Lawah can be found. The temple is located in front of and inside a bat cave. On the cave ceiling and the entrance thousands of bats hanging from the rocks. It is assumed that the cave was already used in antiquity as a place of worship for ancient animistic religions. In the 11th Century the today temple was founded by Empu Kutaran, a high Hindu priest from Java.
  
  3. The Sea Temple of Tanah Lot temple was founded by the Javanese Hindu priest Danghyang Nirartha. He lived in Java and had to flee as many Hindus and Buddhists at the end of the 15th century with the spread of Islam. During his trip at the beginning of the 16th Century, he rested and meditated with his students near the island of Tanah Lot. In order to avoid the confrontation with the local priest, he thought of the rocky island in the middle of the sea and founded the now famous temple on a rock in the sea.
  

  Link to this forum: Hinduism history in Bali

  Report message1

• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by PaulRyckier (U1753522) on Wednesday, 7th December 2011

  Reinhard,
  
  a warm welcome to the boards and thank you for the Bali information. Have you some further data about the history of Bali, for instance the contact with the Moslims and later on the contact with the West? Japan, China?
  
  Kind regards,
  
  Paul.

  Link to this forum: Hinduism history in Bali

  Report message2

• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by Reinhard (U15054766) on Wednesday, 7th December 2011

  Paul,
  many thanks for your interest in my post.
  I don't know much about the Chinese influence in Bali. As far as I know, they had been in Java and went on towards India. However, I can contribute some words to Islam and European contact.
  
  In the 16th Century the Majapahit kingdom on the island of Java collapsed under the Islamization. Many Hindu priests and scholars fled to Bali, the last refuge of the Hindus at that time. The high concentration Hindu priests and scholars, of course, also meant that Hindu beliefs and lifestyles have contributed greatly to the Balinese social system. Presumably this development, which took place in the 16th Century, also greatly contributed to the Balinese people still reject the Islamization of their island. Although we know Indonesia as the largest secular Islamic country in the world, but on the relatively small island of Bali 90% of the population remained Hindus.
  
  The first Europeans to penetrate the Indonesian area, were to my knowledge, the Portuguese, who have previously taken over the entire spice trade. The Portuguese were then replaced in 1600 by the Dutch, who made Indonesia their first colony. However, the Dutch concentrated their efforts for about 250 years on the island of Java and the Maluku archipelago, because there grew cloves and nutmeg, which were at that time an extremely precious commodity. Especially in Ambon, Maluku, the old forts of the Dutch East Indies Company can nowadays be visited:
  
  Then it was the British who first sent a military mission to Bali. It was Sir Stamford Raffles, who later founded the colony of Singapore and who gave his name for the magnificent Raffles Hotel in Singapore, where they serve the wonderful Singapore Sling... sorry, I digress. So, in any case, it was Raffles who stood with solders in Bali in 1814, which caused at the time big concern to the Dutch. After the British had left, the Indonsians thought very briefly about independence, but of course then came the Dutch again into the country and continued their colonial rule. This was the time, when the first massive military attack was proceeded in Bali to break any resistance. 1846 met 3000 with guns armed Dutch on 50,000 Balinese which had to fight with spears. 1848 the Dutch had to increase the number of soldiers significantly, but then the Balinese resistance was broken and the political power on the island passed into Dutch hands. And then the same things happened, that happened to all the colonies of the Europeans: there were atrocities against the population and the country was plundered mercilessly.
  
  Oh yes, and then the Japanese. Well, in World War II, the Japanese have kicked the Dutch out of Indonesia. However, not to dismiss the country to independence, but to begin a much more cruel colonial rule. Fortunately, this lasted only 3 years. Also in Bali there were a station of the Japanese. Shortly after the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, the Indonesians had then declared their independence. However, then came - it hard to believe - once again the Dutch into the country. And so the Indonesians had to fight another 4 years until they were finally able to establish their own independent state.
  

  Link to this forum: Hinduism history in Bali

  Report message3

• Message 4

  , in reply to message 3.

  Posted by Sambista (U4068266) on Thursday, 8th December 2011

  Isn't Balinese Hinduism strongly tinged with Animism?

  Link to this forum: Hinduism history in Bali

  Report message4

Back to top