Vedic influence in Java

• The name Java came from the Sanskrit Jawadvip, which means a (dvip) island (yawa) shaped like a barley corn, Yawa later became pronounced as Java, and the word Dvipa was dropped.

• This shows the mastery the ancient Indians had in charting and mapping the world. Otherwise how could they have noticed it was shaped like a barley corn?

• The Vedic Indians must have charted Java, Yawadvip, thousands of years ago because Yawadvip is mentioned in India's earliest epic, the Ramayana.

• Old Javanese songs describe episodes from the Indian Ramayana and Mahabharatha.

• Shadow-plays(wayang kulit) are often woven around these epic tales, especially of Krishna and Rama. Even today the ruins of Shiva and Vishnu temples can be seen all over Pantarin of Eastern Java.

• Therefore, although Java and Sumatra are today prominently Muslims, we can safely say that before the 14th century when Arab marauders engaged in their terror raids upon this region. Java and Sumatra were a part of, and practiced, the Vedic culture.

• One of the areas where the Vedic culture still survives is nearby Bali. It was here where the last of the Hindu princes in the region withdrew and luckily remained insulated from Islam.

• In the fifteenth century under the Muslim rule in Java, the emperor there emigrated to Bali with his entourage, priests, scholars, and artists, with a view to protect the ancient traditions of the Vedic culture. Even to this day the royal families of Jogjakarta and Surakarta encourage traditional music, arts, dances, and displays of plays based on the Vedic epics, ramayana and Mahabharata.

• In this way, Bali has survived as the only Hindu territory outside India where the people remained Vedic without having been sucked into any other of the more modern religions.