'Hinduism' in Modern Indonesia
On 16 and 17 September 1999 the IIAS seminar 'Hinduism' in modern Indonesia' was held in Leiden. The seminar was convened by Martin Ramstedt, who is at present attached to the Leiden branch of the International Institute of Asian Studies in the Netherlands as a research fellow.
By NICO J.G. KAPTEIN
The seminar was opened by the IIAS Director, Wim Stokhof, who stressed that the study of Hinduism in Indonesia has lagged far behind compared to that of Islam, for example. In the first presentation, from a general theoretical perspective Peter van der Veer (Universiteit van Amsterdam) raised a number of conceptual issues, relevant to the topic of the seminar: the concept of 'Hinduism' (between quotation marks!) itself (and the concept of 'religion'); the relationship between (colonial and post-colonial) state and religion.Martin Ramstedt gave a more geographically oriented introduction to the topic, outlining one important parameter of 'Hinduism' in modern Indonesia: Indonesianization. He showed that the after the integration of Bali into the state of Indonesia in 1950, representatives of Balinese Hinduism reconstructed various tenets and practices within their tradition to ensure these fell within the category of agama (religion), as this was stipulated by the Indonesian state ideology (the Pancasila), which was coloured to a large extent by Christian and Muslim concepts. As a result of this reconstruction (e.g. with regard to monotheism, sacred language, pilgrimage, holy books, prayers, standardized religious calendar and the like) between 1958 and 1961 these 'Hindus' succeeded in achieving recognition of their variety of 'Hinduism' as religion by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and consequently were no longer a target of Christian and Muslim missionaries.
The first session of the seminar dealt with 'Ethnicity, Religion and Nation-Building in Indonesia'. The first paper was given by Karel Steenbrink (Utrecht University) who highlighted the affinity between the thoughts of a number of prominent Indonesian Christians, like Sadrach and Reksosusilo, and certain elements of the Hindu tradition in Javanese culture. Next, in a fascinating presentation, Robert Hefner (Boston University) compared conversion to Hinduism in two close and culturally similar regions, to wit the Yogyakarta region, where only sporadic conversions to Hinduism had taken place, and the Klaten region, which has witnessed the highest percentage of Hindu converts in Java. It was argued that this dissimilarity was related to the difference in the perception of Islam among the Javanese population in each region. Since the mass killings of 1965-1966 in Klaten had been far more awful than those in Yogyakarta, in Klaten the political landscape had been far more politicized than in Yogyakarta. Because the killers in Klaten were to a large extent identified with Islam, the people in this region did not convert to Islam, but preferred Hinduism (and Christianity).
The next session was entitled 'The Development of 'Indonesian Hinduism' (Hindu Dharma Indonesia)'. Michel Picard (CNRS, Paris) outlined the debates held among Balinese intelligentsia after 1917 when the first modern organization was founded up to 1958, when Balinese religion was recognized by the state as Agama Hindu Bali. These debates focused on the relationship between 'religion' (agama) and 'tradition' (adat), and the relationship between Balinese Hinduism and Indian Hinduism. I Gusti Ngurah Bagus (Udayana University, Den Pasar), dealt with the attempts of the state-sanctioned variety of Hindu reform, the Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia, to free itself from government interference, especially in the 1990s. Professor Bagus concluded that the voice of the Hindu religion in Bali, and in Indonesia at large, had become much more prominent recently. Ngurah Nala (Hindu University, Denpasar) outlined some elements of formal and non-formal Hindu education in Bali, while Leo Howe (University of Cambridge) concluded the first day of the seminar with a presentation which showed how onwards the religious landscape in Bali has been diversified since the early 1980s by the introduction of the Sai Baba movement, and how this devotional movement overlaps, and is in dynamic tension with, forms of Hinduism.
Universalism
The second day of the seminar started with the session 'Neo-Indianization of Local Discourses in Indonesia'. Silvia Vignato (CNRS, Paris) dealt with two ethnic groups of Hindus in North Sumatra, the immigrant Tamils and the native Bataks. It was argued that, unlike the Tamils, the Karo Bataks were not able to fulfil their need for intellectual change within Hinduism. The next presentation was by Somvir (Dehli University; Udayana University, Den Pasar), read by Peter van der Veer. The paper stressed the idea of the universalism of Hinduism (and the common ancestry of India and Indonesia), and highlighted a number of contacts between Indonesia and India in the post-colonial era. The third paper in this session, by Juara Ginting (University Leiden), dealt with some organizational aspects of Karo Hinduism, and Martin Ramstedt concluded this session by presenting some preliminary conclusions, based on his fieldwork in South Sulawesi, about how Hindu Dharma Indonesia might be able protect the local traditions in this area, where the centralization, rationalization, and bureaucratization of 'religion' is taking place on the initiative of state-sponsored and state controlled institutions.
In the final session, ''Hinduism' and Local Identity vis-à-vis Islam and Christianity', Gerard Persoon (Universiteit Leiden) discussed the local religion of a small ethnic group on the island of Siberut (West Sumatra). He had evidence to show that this local religion had not disappeared despite various concerted efforts by the government and Christian or Muslim missionaries achieve this, because this religion had never organized itself, which made it impossible to come to grips with it. Moreover, more recently, a more positive attitude towards this indigenous religion has developed as a result of the great appreciation for this shown by tourists, while the efforts to preserve the natural environment of the island also implies a greater respect for the indigenous culture.
Dik Roth (Wageningen Agricultural University) dealt with a number of socio-political and demographic processes in Luwu and Tana Toraja (South Sulawesi) in the Dutch colonial and the post-colonial period, and argued that the political-administrative categories used by those in power did not coincide with Toraja identity. The next paper was by Tanja Hohe (Münster University) and dealt with the concept of pela in Ambon, which constitutes a form of alliance between two or more villages. This is even able transcend the border between Christianity and Islam. In the paper it was optimistically argued that this concept could play a role in avoiding interreligious conflicts. The final contribution to the seminar was by Jan Houben (University Leiden) who showed part of a film about a the performance of a Vedic ritual which he shot in Dehli in 1996.
All in all, the seminar brought together a wealth of relevant expertise on the very original topic of 'Hinduism' in modern Indonesia. The focus of the seminar was very well chosen, since an up-to-date, comprehensive publication about this topic is a great lack. The choice of this topic was also very timely, because of the many social and political changes which are taking place in Indonesia at the present time. Unfortunately, in my opinion, a few of the presentations were not sufficiently in line with the central topic of the seminar. This was a pity because the busy schedule of presentations did not allow for a closing session, in which some general conclusions might have been drawn.
It is envisaged that the proceedings will appear at the end of 2000 at the Curzon Press. I trust that the just mentioned lack of a concluding session will be made up in this undoubtedly valuable forthcoming publication. *
Dr Nico J.G. Kaptein is the co-ordinator of the Indonesian-Netherlands Cooperation in Islamic Studies, and secretary of the Islamic Studies Programme at Universiteit Leiden.
E-mail: NKaptein@let.leidenuniv.nl.