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12 July 2026

PM Modi's visit to Prambanan Temple

The visit serves as a useful contextual example for India's cultural diplomacy and the historical spread of Indian influence in Southeast Asia, though the internal religious policies of Indonesia are not directly examinable.

1 min read Day 5 of 6 2 questions 2 prelims

Notes

  • Prambanan Temple, located near Yogyakarta, Indonesia, is a 9th-century UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest Hindu temple complex in the country.
  • The temple houses the trimurti of Vedic Hinduism: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.
  • Indonesia's national identity is tied to the Pancasila, the first principle of which is faith in one supreme god (monotheism).
  • To be legally recognised as an agama (religion) in Indonesia, a group must meet three criteria: be strictly monotheistic, possess a recognised holy scripture, and be founded by a prophet.
  • Hinduism in Indonesia was formally recognised as an agama in 1962 after reformers reframed Balinese practice to satisfy the monotheistic requirement.
  • The Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia (PHDI), founded in 1959, played a key role in recasting Hindu traditions around the concept of a single supreme deity, Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa.
  • Indonesian law mandates a religion column on national identity cards, affecting civil rights including marriage, birth registration, and burial rights.
  • Despite state-mandated monotheism, indigenous practices such as ancestral worship, animal sacrifice, and nature worship persist across various recognised religions in Indonesia.

Part of a longer story

This is day 5 of 6 in PM Modi's diplomatic visit to Indonesia, which has been running since 7 July 2026. Reading it whole is usually worth more than reading today alone — the exam asks how something developed.

Questions

  1. Discuss the challenges faced by minority religious traditions in reconciling indigenous pluralistic practices with state-mandated monotheistic frameworks, with reference to the Indonesian experience. 150 words
    Attempt this — 150 words in 8 min
    0 / 150 words 8:00
  2. Examine the role of institutional scaffolding and legal recognition in the evolution of religious identity within a nation-state. How do such frameworks influence the preservation of ancient cultural traditions? 250 words
    Attempt this — 250 words in 11 min
    0 / 250 words 11:00

Prelims

  1. Which of the following is a core principle of the Pancasila, the founding philosophy of the modern Indonesian state?

  2. What was the primary purpose of the Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia (PHDI) upon its founding in 1959?

Syllabus

Topics

Sources

250words.in · https://250words.in/daily/2026-07-12/pm-modi-s-visit-to-prambanan-temple