Indonesia Tourist Guides — Culture

Indonesian culture has inherited an interesting blend of its Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic and Portuguese history. While its arts, crafts and architecture are distinctive in their historic diversity, today there is a definite Indonesian identity, which has been fostered in the 20th century, partly by government promoted nationalism and mass education and communication. The legal system is based on the Dutch penal code; however, social and religious duties have been formulated into a code of behavior called 'adat', or common law.

Indonesia's early Hindu influences gave it many of its traditional textile based craft techniques, of which Batik is the most famous. It is the art of applying wax to cloth to make intricate patterns based on mythology and nature, and then dying the material in colorful hues. Motifs and style of the Hindu period are evident among Indonesian art, Java Islamic mosques and cemeteries have Hindu style gates. Other popular textile crafts are the 'ikat' - a type of weaving with tie-dyed threads and 'songket' - where silk cloth is woven with gold and silver threads.

Islam has also deeply affected the arts, especially literature. The influence of Islam can be seen in the uniqueness and intrigue in Indonesian art forms - since Islam forbid the reproduction of portraits of living creatures - some characterizations will have wings of birds or the antlers of a deer, but not the animals themselves.

The influence of Portuguese colonialism is clearly evident in music - the popular folk music called 'kroncong' has the distinctive strumming of the guitar. Portuguese words are part of the Indonesian language.

Indonesian dance is also rooted in religion and ritual, and are dramatic with deliberate dance movements. The 'topeng' (mask) dance performed in some areas in Bali is one where a single performer changes from one persona to another with the aid of masks on a stage. Some of the dramas are accompanied by a full 'gamelan' orchestra with xylophones, drums, gongs, and string instruments. Puppetry is another art form - the 'wayung kulit' performed in Java are folk tales performed by skilled puppeteers on a white stage backlit by lanterns. The religion and culture of Bali, the gamelan orchestra and the five-note scale in music are also inherited from India.

Indonesian food is also a blend of its cultural influences. Most Indonesian food is moderately spicy, with a predominance of ginger, garlic and fresh turmeric. For especially spicy dishes, one has to sample the Panjung cuising from Sumatra. Rice is the staple with most meals . .nasi goring. is a popular export to the western hemisphere. Sate, which is skewered barbequed meat and .gado-gado., a peanut sauce based salad, which is sold at every street corner.

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