Buddhism in Indonesia
Buddhisme di Indonesia

Monks praying atBorobudur, the largest Buddhist structure in the world, built by theSailendra dynasty.
Total population
2 million (2023)[1][2] 0.71% of population
Regions with significant populations
Jakarta,North Sumatra,West Kalimantan,Banten,Riau,Riau Islands,West Java,East Java,South Sumatra,Central Java.[3]
Religions
Mahayana andTheravadaBuddhism
Languages
Liturgical Pali (majority) Sanskrit Classical Chinese Classical Tibetan Common Indonesian (official),Mandarin Chinese,Hokkien,Japanese,Thai,Javanese and variousregional languages

Buddhism has a longhistory in Indonesia, and it is one of the six recognized religions in the country, along withIslam,Christianity (Protestantism andCatholicism),Hinduism andConfucianism. According to 2023 estimates roughly 0.71% of the total citizens ofIndonesia were Buddhists, numbering around 2 million. MostBuddhists are concentrated inJakarta,Riau,Riau Islands,Bangka Belitung,North Sumatra, andWest Kalimantan. These totals, however, are probably inflated, as practitioners ofTaoism andChinese folk religion, which are not considered official religions of Indonesia, likely declared themselves as Buddhists on the most recent census.^[4] Today, the majority of Buddhists in Indonesia areChinese and otherEast Asians, but small communities ofnative Buddhists (such asJavanese andSasak) also exist.

Buddhism is the second oldest outside religion inIndonesia afterHinduism, which arrived fromIndia around the second century.^[4] The history of Buddhism in Indonesia is closely related to the history ofHinduism, as a number of empires influenced byIndian culture were established around the same period. The arrival of Buddhism in theIndonesian archipelago began with trading activity, from the early 1st century, by way of themaritime Silk Road between Indonesia and India.^[6] The oldest Buddhist archaeological site in Indonesia is arguably theBatujaya stupas complex inKarawang, West Java. The oldest relic in Batujaya was estimated to originate from the 2nd century, while the latest dated from the 12th century. Subsequently, significant numbers of Buddhist sites were found inJambi,Palembang, andRiau provinces in Sumatra, as well as inCentral andEast Java. The Indonesian archipelago has, over the centuries, witnessed the rise and fall of powerful Buddhist empires, such as theSailendra dynasty and theMataram andSrivijaya empires.

According to some Chinese sources, the Chinese Buddhist monkI-tsing, while on his pilgrim journey to India, witnessed the powerful maritime empire of Srivijaya based onSumatra in the 7th century. The empire served as a Buddhist learning center in the region. A notable Srivijayan revered Buddhist scholar isDharmakīrtiśrī, a Srivijayan prince of the Sailendra dynasty, born around the turn of the 7th century in Sumatra.^[7] He became a revered scholar-monk in Srivijaya and moved toIndia to become a teacher at the famedNalanda University, as well as a poet. He built on and reinterpreted the work ofDignaga, the pioneer ofBuddhist logic, and was very influential amongBrahman logicians as well as Buddhists. His theories became normative inTibet and are studied to this day as a part of the basic monastic curriculum. Other Buddhist monks who visited Indonesia wereAtisha,Dharmapala, a professor ofNalanda, and the South Indian BuddhistVajrabodhi. Srivijaya was the largest Buddhist empire ever formed in Indonesian history. Indian empires such as thePala Empire helped fund Buddhism in Indonesia; specifically funding a monastery for Sumatran monks.^[8]

A number of Buddhist sites and artifacts related to Indonesia'shistorical heritage can be found in Indonesia, including the 8th centuryBorobudurmandala monument andSewu temple inCentral Java,Batujaya in West Java,Muaro Jambi,Muara Takus andBahal temple in Sumatra, and numerous statues or inscriptions from the earlier history of Indonesian Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms. During the eras of theKediri,Singhasari andMajapahit empires, Buddhism — identified asDharma ri Kasogatan — was acknowledged as one of the kingdom's official religions along with Hinduism. Although some of the kings may have favored Hinduism, harmony,toleration, and evensyncretism were promoted as a manifestation of the national motto,Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, which was coined from theKakawin Sutasoma, written byMpu Tantular to promote tolerance and coexistence betweenHindus (Shivaites) andBuddhists.^[9] The classical era of ancient Java has also produced some of the most exquisite examples ofBuddhist art; such as the statue ofPrajnaparamita and the statue of Buddha Vairochana and Boddhisttva Padmapani and Vajrapani located in theMendut temple.

In the 13th century,Islam entered the archipelago, and began gaining a foothold in coastal port towns. The fall of the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit empire in the late 15th or early 16th century marked the end ofDharmic civilization in Indonesia. By the end of the 16th century,Islam had supplanted Hinduism and Buddhism as the dominant religion ofJava andSumatra. For 450 years after that, there was no significant Buddhist practice in Indonesia. Many Buddhist sites,stupas,temples, and manuscripts were lost or forgottenas the region became predominantly Muslim. During this era of decline, few people practiced Buddhism; most of them wereChinese immigrants who settled in Indonesia when migration accelerated in the 17th century. Manyklenteng (Chinese temples) in Indonesia are in fact atridharma temple that houses three faiths, namely Buddhism,Confucianism andTaoism.

In 1934,Narada Thera, aTheravada Buddhist missionary monk fromSri Lanka, visited theDutch East Indies for the first time as part of his journey to spread theDhamma inSoutheast Asia. This opportunity was seized by local Buddhists to revive Buddhism in Indonesia. ABodhi tree planting ceremony was held on the southeastern side ofBorobudur on March 10, 1934, under the blessing of Narada Thera, and someUpasakas were ordained asmonks.^[4]

Following thedownfall of President Sukarno in the mid-1960s,Pancasila was reasserted as the official Indonesian policy on religion to only recognisemonotheism.^[10] As a result, the founder of Perbuddhi (Indonesian Buddhists Organisation), BhikkhuAshin Jinarakkhita, underMajelis Buddhayana Indonesia (Indonesian Buddhayana Council), an inter-sectarian Buddhist organization that encompasses three main schools of Buddhism, proposed that there was a single supreme Buddhist deity,Sanghyang Adi Buddha (although this interpretation of the Buddha is controversial and not widely accepted by theTheravada school of Buddhism). His interpretations are said to be backed up with the history behind the Indonesian version of Buddhism in ancientJavanese texts, and the shape of theBorobudur Temple.

During theNew Order era, Buddhism was recognized as one of the five official religions ofIndonesia. The national leader of the time,Suharto, had considered Buddhism andHinduism as Indonesian classical religions.^{[citation needed]}

During Suharto’s reign, the expression and practice of Chinese cultural identity were virtually suppressed. As a result, many Chinese traditional beliefs such asConfucianism andTaoism were incorporated into the Buddhist practices ofChinese Indonesian Buddhists who were mostly of the Mahayana School.^{[citation needed]} The combination of the three teachings is known asTri-dharma.

Initially, Confucianism was recognized as one of the six official religions of Indonesia in 1965, when Soekarno launched the Presidential Decree No. 1/1965 on the Prevention of Blasphemy. After Soeharto came into power, Confucianism was initially tolerated and still recognized, but in 1977 he issued a policy degrading Confucianism as a sect (aliran kepercayaan) and revoked its recognition by the government. It was only after the fall of Suharto and the repeal of decree No. 14/1967 on the Prohibition of Practicing Chinese Rituals and Beliefs by PresidentAbdurrahman Wahid was Confucianism re-classified as an officially recognized religion by the Indonesian government.^[11]

Eventually, theTheravada school of Buddhism also began to stronger its foundations in Indonesia. With the help of monks from the ThaiDhammayuttika Nikāya order,Saṅgha Theravāda Indonesia (Indonesian Theravāda Saṅgha), the first monastic organization of Theravada Buddhism in Indonesia, was formed on October 23, 1976, at the Mahā Dhammaloka Vihāra (now Tanah Putih Vihāra),Semarang, Central Java.^[12][13] This organization was initiated by monks who did not agree with the inter-sectarian views of the Indonesian Buddhayana Council. In 1979, the first Buddhist college in Indonesia,Nalanda Institute, was established with the ideal of fulfilling the need for Buddhist teachers to educate Buddhist students.^[14][15][16] In 2002,Kertarajasa Buddhist College (STAB Kertarajasa), a Theravada Buddhist private university, was established to accommodate the need for Buddhist religious teachers and preachers.^[17][18][16] Later, thePa-Auk Forest Monastery tradition, along with other Burmese traditions, also planted their Theravadin roots in Indonesia by establishing various branches throughout the country.^[19][20] In 2015, another separate Theravadin organization, Saṅgha Bhikkhuṇī Theravāda Indonesia, held the first Theravada ordination ofbhikkhunis in Indonesia at Wisma Kusalayani inLembang, Bandung, West Java,^[21] although the validity of this ordination remains controversial among the conservatives (seeBhikkhunī#Re-establishing bhikkhunī ordination),^[22] and is not officially recognized by the Saṅgha Theravāda Indonesia.^[23]

Today, in reference to the principle of Pancasila, a Buddhist monk representing the Buddhist Sangha, along with a priest, Brahmin, clergy or representative of other recognized religions, would participate in nearly all state-sponsored ceremonies. The ceremony would always include a prayer (led by a Muslim imam with representatives of other faiths standing in a row behind him). More often than not the representative of Buddhism as selected by the Government would happen to be a Theravada monk.^{[citation needed]}

Once a year, thousands of Buddhists from Indonesia and neighboring countries flock to Borobudur to commemorate the nationalWaisak Day.^[24]

The oldest extant esoteric Buddhist Mantranaya (largely a synonym of Mantrayana, Vajrayana and Buddhist Tantra) literature inOld Javanese, a language significantly influenced bySanskrit, is enshrined in theSang Kyang Kamahayanan Mantranaya.^[25]

TheLalitavistara Sutra was known to theMantranaya stonemasons ofBorobudur, refer:The birth of Buddha (Lalitavistara). 'Mantranaya' is not a corruption or misspelling of 'mantrayana' even though it is largely synonymous. Mantranaya is the term for the esoteric tradition onmantra, a particular lineage ofVajrayana andTantra, inIndonesia. The clearly Sanskrit sounding 'Mantranaya' is evident inOld Javanese tantric literature, particularly as documented in the oldest esoteric Buddhist tantric text in Old Javanese, theSang Kyang Kamahayanan Mantranaya refer Kazuko Ishii (1992).^[26]

In Indonesia, Buddhism is mainly followed by theChinese community and some small indigenous groups of Indonesia, with 0.8% (including Taoism and Confucianism) of Indonesia's population being Buddhists.^[27][4][28] Most Chinese Indonesians reside in urban areas, thus Indonesian Buddhist also mostly living in urban areas. Top ten Indonesian provinces with significant Buddhist populations are;Jakarta,North Sumatra,West Kalimantan,Banten,Riau,Riau Islands,West Java,East Java,South Sumatra, andCentral Java.^[3]

A small minority ofSasaks called the "Bodha" are mainly found in the village of Bentek and on the slopes ofGunung Rinjani,Lombok. They had managed to avoid any Islamic influence and worship deities like Dewi Sri with Esoteric Buddhist and Hindu influences in their rituals due to their secluded geographical location. This group of Sasak, due in part to the name of their tribe, are recognized as Buddhists by the Indonesian government. At present, there are more than 10,000 Buddhists in their community and belonging to the Theravadin tradition.^[29]

Pockets of Javanese Buddhists also exist and are to be found mainly in villages and cities in Central and East Java. The regencies of Temanggung, Blitar and Jepara count about 30,000 Buddhists, mostly of Javanese ethnicity. For example, native Javanese Buddhists population formed as the majority in mountainous villages of Kaloran subdistrict inTemanggung Regency, Central Java.^[30]

According to the 2018 civil registration, there were 2,062,150 Buddhists in Indonesia.^[31] The percentages of Buddhism in Indonesia increased from 0.7% in 2010 to 0.77% in 2018.

There are numerous Buddhist schools established in Indonesia. The earliest school that was established in Indonesia wasVajrayana Buddhism, which developed fromMahayana Buddhism, and which had some similarities with later Tibetan Buddhism. Various temples of ancient Java and Sumatra are Vajrayana.Chinese Buddhism (the main branch ofMahayana Buddhism) has gained followers from Chinese Indonesian populations that began to migrate into the archipelago during the 17th to 18th century. Other notable schools areTheravada Buddhism from Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar.

Indonesia's most notable Buddhist organization is Perwakilan Umat Buddha Indonesia (Walubi) which serves as the vehicle of all Buddhist schools in Indonesia. Other Buddhist organizations include Majelis Buddhayana Indonesia, Sangha Agung Indonesia (SAGIN),Sangha Theravada Indonesia (STI), Sangha Mahayana Indonesia, and the Taiwan-originatedTzu-Chi.

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The most important Buddhist religious event in Indonesia isVesak (Indonesian:Waisak). Once a year, during thefull moon in May or June, Buddhists in Indonesia observe Vesak day commemorating the birth, death, and the time whenSiddhārtha Gautama attained the highest wisdom to become the Buddha Shakyamuni. Vesak is an officialnational holiday in Indonesia^[32] and the ceremony is centered at the three Buddhist temples by walking fromMendut toPawon and ending at Borobudur.^[33]Vesak also is often celebrated in Sewu temple and numerous Buddhist temples in Indonesia.

TheChinese Indonesian community in Tanjung Balai municipality in North Sumatra has protested against the administration's plan to dismantle a statue of Buddha on top of the Tri Ratna Temple.^[34][35]

On July 29, 2016, several Buddhistvihāras were plundered and burnt down in Tanjung Balai of North Sumatra.^[36] On 26 November 2016, a homemade bomb was discovered in front of Vihara Buddha Tirta, a Buddhist temple in Lhok Seumawe of Aceh.^[37]

• Abangan
• Waisak Day
• Ashin Jinarakkhita
• Narada Maha Thera
• Parwati Soepangat
• Metta Sutta
• Mangala Sutta
• Lumbini Natural Park
• Vihara Buddhagaya Watugong
• Borobodur
• Dharmakīrtiśrī
• Lalitavistara Sūtra
• Candi of Indonesia
• Sanghyang Adi Buddha
• Indonesian Esoteric Buddhism
• A Record of Buddhist Practices Sent Home from the Southern Sea
• Buddhism in Malaysia
• Buddhism in Southeast Asia

• Kimura B. (2003).Present Situation of Indonesian Buddhism: In Memory of Bhikkhu Ashin Jinarakkhita Mahasthavira, Nagoya Studies in Indian Culture and Buddhism: Sambhasa 23, 53–72

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