This is the second of three films following a pilgrimage made by Dr S Krishnaswamy, a Tamil historian, to some of the main Hindu centers in SE Asia. Although Islam prevails these days in this area, there are many remains from the Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms that once dominated the archipelago.
Whereas the first of these films visited three different countries, the second concentrates just on the magnificent remains of Hindu culture found in Java and Bali. From the ancient temples on the Dieng plains, to Borobudur and Prambanan, we go to the centre and east of the country seeing the temples in the highlands and in the Majapahit empire.
The second half of the film is set mainly in Bali where a Hindu population that survived the Islamic conversion of the country still practices the ancient customs of the Majapahit kingdom, before returning to Jakarta to see some of the artifacts in the National Museum, and an outside sculpture of Krishna and Arjuna, which is the largest Hindu sculpture in the world.
Although I have yet to photograph in Bali, photographs of most of the other places can be found on my Photo Dharma website, along with historical notes, and further information.
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to see an album of stills click here