By IANS,
New Delhi: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Saturday said he was impressed with the influence of Hinduism on Indonesia – the country with most Muslims in the world.
Back from his recent four-day trip to Indonesia, to attend a World Sindhi Conference, Advani said in his blog that though Hindus made only two percent of Indonesia’s 202.8 million population, it was “impressive” and “surprising” to see the Hindu influence in Indonesia.
He said he was surprised to see Lord Ganesha imprinted on the currency note of Indonesia and said: “In Indonesia, the names of places, of people, and the nomenclature of institutions also give one a clear impression of a benign Sanskrit influence.”
“It certainly pleased me to gather that the official mascot of Military Intelligence in Indonesia is Hanuman. The rationale offered by a local was that it was Hanuman who had been able to trace Sita (who was) kidnapped by Ravana,” he added.
Dwelling extensively on various detailed depictions of characters from the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata in several parts of the country, Advani said that in Denpasar, the capital of Bali, he was surprised by his driver’s knowledge of the epic Mahabharata when he pointed at a statue and said: “This is a depiction of Ghatotkach of the Mahabharata.”
Advani wrote: “Indeed, even in India very few would be able to identify who Ghatotkach is. And here was the driver of our car knowing full well both Ghatotkach as well as his relationship with Bheema.”
“Indonesia, I must say,” Advani said at the end of his blog, “seemed to know and cherish Ramayana and Mahabharata better than we do.”