The bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara

Buddhist Bronzes  from Indonesia

“Many kings in the islands of the Southern Ocean admire and believe Buddhism. In the city I visited, Buddhist priests number more than 1,000, whose minds are bent on learning and good practices.”*

So reported a Chinese Buddhist monk when he stopped at the Indonesian island of Sumatra in the 680s on his way home from visiting India’s holy sites.

For the next five hundred years Buddhism, in its Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, flourished in parts of Indonesia, particularly the island of Java. In fact, Java produced, particularly in the 800s, some of the most complex, ambitious, and beautiful Buddhist monuments of all time. Despite the fact that the majority of the Indonesian population is Muslim today, Borobudur remains a popular tourist destination and a marker of cultural pride.

*Adapted from J. Takakusu’s 1896 translation of A Record of the Buddhist Religion as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago by the monk Yijing.

From the 600s until at least the 1000s, the eastern coastal areas of Sumatra, peninsular Malaysia, peninsular Thailand, and nearby areas made up a powerful trading kingdom—or confederation of principalities—known as Srivijaya. Srivijaya derived its power and wealth from its control of the sea lanes through which traders carried goods back and forth from Arabia, Persia, and India through Southeast Asia to China.

This bronze statue is in a style associated with Srivijayan art in Sumatra. However, very similar bronze statuettes have been found in peninsular Thailand and Malaysia. Because their size would have made them easy to carry, it is not certain where they were made.