Airlangga, Hindu Prince of Java

Airlangga (also spelled Erlangga) lived in East Java from 1001 to 1049 and is regarded as a national hero of Indonesia because he wrested control of his homeland from Sumatran overlords. His 23-year reign as king launched an economic, literary and artistic renaissance in Java and Bali.

During his reign, a court poet named Mpu Kanwa composed the Javanese epic "Arjunavivaha," as an allegory of Airlangga's life. The story takes place on the day the prince, called Arjuna, goes to war. As he faces his enemies, he realizes they are his own family. Grief overwhelms him, and he doesn't know what to do. So he seeks divine knowledge. Then Krishna reveals himself as a vision of transcendental light.

Airlangga was buried at a place called Belahan, an ancient brick bathing place surrounded by temples on Mt Penanggungan. Carved in red tufa stone against the back wall of the bathing tank is one of east Java's greatest icons, God Vishnu seated on his bird-vehicle, Garuda. Historians believe this image represents the ascended King Airlangga.

Airlangga is known to have been a keen patron of the arts, notably literature. In around 1035, the court poet Mpu Kanwa produced the Arjuna Wiwaha, which has to this day remained one of Java's most popular classical stories. Adapted from the Indian Mahabharata epic, the poem recounts episodes in the life of the hero sage Arjuna, who was an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. There are reasons to believe that the poem was a portrait of the life of Airlangga himself. He, like Arjuna, was seen as a divine incarnation, apparently laid to rest at Candi Belahan, where he was portrayed in stone as Vishnu on Garuda.

Towards the end of his life, Airlangga was faced with the problem of succession. The rightful heir, princess Sanggramawijaya, refused the throne, preferring to live her life as a hermit. She is traditionally associated with the legend of Dewi Kilisuci and the cave of Selomangleng at Kediri. Airlangga's realm was, as a result, eventually divided between two of his sons, giving rise to the separate kingdoms of Janggala and Kediri. It was Kediri, however, which was to become the dominant power until the rise of Singosari in the early 13th century.

An Excerpt from "Arjunavivaha"

Then Arjuna saw the entire universe, infinitely divided, and yet one all-embracing mind. Frightened and overcome with awe, Arjuna bowed his head and prayed.

"Lord Krishna…I see beings without number inside your shining form. You have no beginning, nor middle, nor end. You shimmer with brilliant, glowing crowns. I cannot see through the blazing fire of your sunlight."

Airlangga is remembered in today's Indonesia as a model of religious tolerance. He spent his early years living in the forests as an ascetic.

(source: Airlangga - eastjava.com and Airlangga, Prince of Java).