The Republic of Indonesia is a transcontinental country located in Southeast Asia and Oceania (islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean). In Indian Puranas it is called ”Dwipantara Bharat” meaning cross-sea India. This is why European historians and travelers called it Indonesia which sounds like ”India in Asia”. The inhabitants of Indonesia later adopted the same name. During the colonial period ruled by the Dutch, the archipelago was called the East Indies. Currently, the Republic of Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia. It shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Malaysia (formerly Malaya), while it is bordered by Singapore, the Philippines, Australia and India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is the only country in the world that covers 17,508 islands. A lot of these islands aren't even named. The UNO recently asked Indonesia for a list of its islands, including their names. The population of the Republic of Indonesia is about 230 million. It is the fourth most populous country in the world and has the largest Muslim population in the world. Indonesia is home to more than 2,000 cultural groups. Some evidence of the very ancient history of these islands is found in the literary contexts of China.
According to geographers, historians, scientists and ancient Indian literature, the East Indies were once connected from Asia to Australia. Later, they were broken up and scattered in a crescent shape due to geological movements. Of these, Java, Sumatra, Bali and Borneo are the largest islands, while the others are quite small. References in Indian mythological literature take India's relationship with the Indonesian islands back to the time of the Ramayana. During that period, India's geographical boundaries ranged from Jambudvipa (India) to Sinhala Island (Sri Lanka), Siam (Thailand), Yavadvipa (Java), Swarnadvipa (Sumatra), Malay Island (Malaysia), Shankhadvipa (Borneo), Bali and Andhra Pradesh (Australia). ) were up to. The Malay Peninsula or Malaya, now called Malaysia, is a separate country from Cambodia, Cambodia (Kampuchia).
The islands of the Champa Kingdom of that period are now divided into Vietnam and Cambodia (Kampuchea). Sanskrit language is still used here today. In that period, the kings of India conquered distant islands. These include Kushadvipa (Africa) and Varahadvipa (Madagascar). From before the Ramayana until the rise of Islam in the seventh century AD, most of these islands were part of India and the people were Hindus. Madagascar is now a large island in the middle of the sea in the southeast of the African continent and a separate nation.
Description of the Seven Islands in the Valmiki Ramayana
It is written in the Valmiki Ramayana:‘Yatravanto yavadvipaḥ saptarajyopashobhitaḥ.’ That is, there are seven kingdoms in Yavadvipa. Certainly Yavadvipa (Java), must have been close enough to the mainland of India at that time. There will be other islands in the immediate sea, six or seven of which will have been prominent in terms of the presence of human settlements
The Six Islands of the Vayu Purana
A verse of the Vayu Purana states:‘Angadvipa, Yavadvipa, Malayadvipa, Shankhadvipa, Kushadvipa and Varahadvipa. Thus the six islands are described all around India is an island country very extensive in the south.’ That is, Anga Island, Yava Island, Malay Island, Shankh Island, Kush Island and Varaha Island etc. are the islands of India which extend far to the south. During this period, the island of Bali was also one of the chains of islands where the Indian Aryans had settlements and where the social and judicial system was established on the basis of the Manusmriti
Mythological beliefs
regarding LankaLanka is now called Ceylon which is an abbreviation of Sinhalese. In mythological times, Lanka was also called the Sinhalese island. In mythological times, the island referred to as Lanka included the land of Malaya and Sumatra. The Brahmanda Purana says– ‘That is how the Malaya island is well covered. The ever-joyful and prosperous great city of Lanka.’ This verse shows that at the time of the creation of the Brahmanda Purana, Malaya must have been situated just near Lanka in the same way that Lanka is near India today. There is still a place on the island of Sumatra called Soni-Lanka which is located on the coast near the mountains in the northeast of Sumatra. There was a large amount of gold available at this place. This gold was first obtained by the Yakshas and later by the Rakshasas. In the Narada section it is written– ‘There will be poor kings and human beings here in time for the sake of gold and for the sake of seeing the gods. and they will always come, leaving the demon to fear.’ That is, in Kali Yuga, kings and subjects will become poor, so they will come here daily because of greed.
Sumali, the grandfather of Ravana, the king of Lanka, left Lanka to live in the underworld to save his demons from being destroyed by Lord Vishnu. It is believed to be an island of the underworld Java-Sumatra-Bali. There are different beliefs though about the exact timing of this event. Acharya Chatursena had done painstaking research on this subject. According to him, this event happened about seven thousand years ago. These islands are home to thousands of years old statues with episodes from the Ramayana. The island of Sumatra is called the Golden Island and Angadvipa in Indian mythology where vast deposits of gold were available. The people of the Yaksha race had brought their gold from Swarnadvipa (also called Angadvipa) and kept it in Sinhala Dvipa (Lanka). Kubera, the king of the Yakshas, protected this wealth.
Ravana, the king of demons, spent his childhood in Australia, then called Andhralaya. Ravana came from Andhralaya and invaded Lanka and defeated Kubera, the king of Lanka, and took possession of the golden Lanka and took away his flowery plane. After that, the demons started living in Lanka again. Kubera and Ravana were both sons of Vishrava. On the islands of Bali and Java, statues that look like demons can still be seen everywhere. The island of Bali has a large museum of giant statues that look like monsters. The presence of these statues confirms the association of the demons described in Indian mythological literature with these islands.
Hindu Culture in Borneo
The spread of Hindu culture in the Shankhadvipa (Borneo) began in the first century AD. In the fourth century AD, Hindu kings established their power in Borneo. Inscriptions from Borneo dating back to the fourth century AD testify to the existence of Vedic religion in Borneo at that time. In the fifth century AD, the islands of Borneo and Sumatra came under the rule of the Shailendra dynasty of Java. Statues of Lord Shiva and Buddha have been found in the ruins found in Borneo. A wooden temple has also been found. The Indian influence on the architecture and art of Borneo can still be seen today.