Buddhism in Indonesia

Buddhism in Indonesia has a long history, with a considerable range of relics dated from its earlier years in Indonesia. Buddhism is recognized as one of six official religions in Indonesia, along with Islam, Christianity (Protestantism and Catholicism), Hinduism and Confucianism.

According to the 2000 national census, roughly 0.8% of the total citizens of Indonesia were Buddhists and numbered around 1.7 million. Most Buddhists are concentrated in Jakarta, Riau, Riau Islands, Bangka Belitung, North Sumatra and West Kalimantan also have a significant number of practitioners. However, these totals are likely high, because practitioners of Taoism and Chinese folk religion, which are not considered official religions of Indonesia, referred to themselves as Buddhists on the census. Today, most Buddhists in Indonesia are Chinese, however small numbers of native (such as Javanese and Sasak) Buddhists are also present.

Buddhism is the second oldest religion in Indonesia after Hinduism, arriving around the second century. The history of Buddhism in Indonesia is closely related to the history of Hinduism, as a number of empires influenced by Indian culture were established around the same period. The arrival of Buddhism in the Indonesian archipelago was started with the trading activity that began in the early of first century on the maritime Silk Road between Indonesia and India. The oldest Buddhist archaeological site in Indonesia is arguably the Batujaya stupas complex in Karawang, West Java. The oldest relic in Batujaya was estimated to originate from the 2nd century, while the latest dated from the 12th century. Subsequently, numbers of Buddhist sites were found in Jambi, Palembang, and Riau provinces in Sumatra, and also in Central and East Java. Indonesian archipelago has witnessed the rise and fall of powerful Buddhist empires such as the Sailendra dynasty, the Mataram and Srivijaya empires.

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