Agama Hindu Dharma — A Blend of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Indigenous Belief

The Dharma in Agama Hindu Dharma Bali sounds Indian Hindu — but open it up and three different religions sit in one bowl. Indian Hindu (via Java, 9–13c) + Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism (Java/Bali, 8–13c) + indigenous Balinese animism and ancestor worship (since prehistory) — fermented for a thousand years. Reading Bali Hindu as merely "a variant of Indian Hindu" misses the core. Syncretism itself is the essence.

A. Layer 1 — Indian Hindu (via Java)

Arrival — Indian merchants and monks brought Hinduism to Java around the 4–5th centuries. The earliest evidence: inscriptions of Kutai (Borneo) and Tarumanagara (West Java).

Development in Java — In the 9th century, the Mataram Kingdom (Central Java) made Shaivite Hinduism the state religion. Prambanan (three main shrines for Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma) is its apex. Development continued through Kediri and Singhasari (12c) into Majapahit (13–15c).

Transmission to Bali — King Airlangga linked Bali to Java (11c), Gajah Mada brought direct Majapahit rule (14c), and the Majapahit exile of 1527 (see 2.2.1) moved the entire Javanese Hindu elite to Bali. Bali's royal and priestly lineages all begin here.

Remaining traces:

• Tri Murti (Brahma, Wisnu, Siwa) theology
• 4 Wangsa caste
• Ramayana and Mahabharata narratives (Wayang Kulit shadow puppetry, Balinese dance)
• Sanskrit mantras (fragments in ritual)
• The basic structure of Pura temples

Sources: Hinduism in Indonesia · Mataram Kingdom · Prambanan

B. Layer 2 — Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism

Arrival — In the 7–8th centuries, Srivijaya (Sumatra) became Southeast Asia's Mahayana Buddhist hub. The Chinese monk Yijing's 671 CE visit is recorded.

Development in Java — In the 8–9th centuries the Sailendra dynasty built Borobudur, the world's largest Mahayana temple. Around the same time it coexisted with the Shaivite Mataram — the two fused. From the 13th century onward Vajrayana (tantric) Buddhism entered Java strongly, forming Tantric Shaivism.

Transmission to Bali — The complete fusion of Java was passed through Majapahit to Bali.

Remaining traces:

• Parts of Pemangku (village priest) liturgy — mantra structure
• Bhairavic, tantric elements — the dark side of ritual: Pejagalan (bloody rite), Caru (great offering)
• Bhiksu (Buddhist monks/nuns) — a small Buddhist community survives (0.62% population)
• Saraswati — a fusion of Buddhist Prajnaparamita and Hindu Vac
• Stupa shapes in some temples (e.g. parts of Goa Gajah)

Historical case — King Kertanegara (Singhasari, 14c) is the representative case of Shiva-Buddha unity. After his death, Candi Jago contains a combined Shiva-Buddha statue. Bali is a direct heir of that fusion.

Sources: Buddhism in Indonesia · Sailendra · Borobudur

C. Layer 3 — Indigenous Bali (Animism, Ancestor Worship)

Before Hindu-Buddhism arrived, Bali already had Austronesian indigenous belief. Bali Aga villages — Trunyan, Tenganan (see 2.2.1) — preserve fragments of the original form.

Core elements:

1. Kaja-Kelod — Mountain-Sea Duality

• Mountains are abodes of ancestors and gods (sacred, Kaja)
• The sea is the realm of spirits and death (perilous, Kelod)
• Every Balinese village, house, and temple aligns to this axis (Tri Mandala, see 2.4.2)
• Absent from Indian Hindu — uniquely Balinese

2. Ancestor Worship (Pitr)

• After death the family member goes through Ngaben (cremation) → Memukur (purification) and is then enshrined permanently at the family temple
• Ancestors protect; descendants reciprocate through ritual — a permanent relationship
• In Indian Hindu, ancestors depart after the Shraddha rite — Bali's stay forever
• Shared with other Austronesian religions (Philippine, Malay, Taiwanese indigenous)

3. Spirit Belief (Bhuta Kala)

• Spirits inhabit trees, rivers, stones, crossroads, dead animals — every place
• Two categories: Bhuta (large spirits) and Kala (time/disaster spirits)
• Appeased through Banten Mecaru (low offerings)
• Comparable to Indian Rakshasa/Asura, but with far higher ritual intensity in daily life

4. Pawukon — The 210-Day Calendar

• A purely Balinese-Javanese indigenous time system (see 3.3.1)
• A unique 10 simultaneous cycles structure with no Indian counterpart
• A Southeast Asian instance of compound cyclic calendars like the Maya Tzolkin (260 days)

Sources: Animism · Pawukon · Ancestor veneration — Bali context

D. The Mechanism of Fusion — How They Became One Bowl

The three layers did not coexist separately — they melted completely into a new religion.

Fusion patterns:

1. Multi-layer identification of the divine

• Sang Hyang Widhi (supreme) = Brahman (India) = Buddha (Sailendra fusion) = Hyang Tunggal (Javanese indigenous)
• One god called by four names — no one perceives a contradiction

2. Multi-layer overlay of ritual

• A single Odalan may sequentially perform Sanskrit mantra (India) + Mahayana Buddhist rite (Java) + canang sari and Bhuta Kala offering (indigenous)

3. Multi-layer arrangement of space

• A Pura contains Padmasana (Shiva seat, India) + Meru (multi-tier tower, Mahayana/Javanese cosmic mountain) + Lingga-Yoni (Shiva-Shakti) + ancestral seats — all coexisting in one courtyard

4. Multi-layer priesthood

• Pedanda Siwa (Shaivite priest) and Pedanda Buddha (Buddhist priest) participate jointly in a major ritual — both recognized

This is the result of Java-Bali's thousand-year tradition of Shaiva-Buddha fusion (Sambhu = another name for Buddha).

Source: Lansing J.S., Priests and Programmers (Princeton, 1991) — Balinese religious syncretism

E. The Foreigner's View — Why This Matters

If you read Bali Hindu as merely a variant of Indian Hindu, you cannot answer:

• Why is Sanskrit scarce in Balinese ritual?
• Why is Bhuta Kala offering a daily routine?
• Why do ancestors reside permanently in family shrines?
• Why does each village's ritual differ subtly?

Through the 3-layer fusion, you can:

• Sanskrit is the form, indigenous belief is the substance
• Bhuta Kala lies outside India, at the indigenous core
• Permanent ancestor residence is Austronesian heritage
• Inter-village variation reflects different fusion ratios

The conclusion is not "Bali Hindu is not real Hindu" but rather "Indian Hindu is not the only Hindu" — the official PHDI stance.

Source: Bakker F. L., The Struggle of the Hindu Balinese Intellectuals (1993) — the PHDI identity debate

Quick Summary

Sources / References

• Wiki — Balinese Hinduism · Hinduism in Indonesia · Buddhism in Indonesia · Majapahit · Pawukon
• Official — PHDI Pusat · Kementerian Agama — Bimas Hindu · UNESCO — Prambanan · UNESCO — Borobudur
• News — The Jakarta Post — Hindu-Buddha fusion heritage · Bali Post (local) · Tempo — religious-layering coverage
• Academic — Lansing J.S., Priests and Programmers (Princeton, 1991); Ramstedt M. (ed.), Hinduism in Modern Indonesia (RoutledgeCurzon, 2004); Bakker F. L., The Struggle of the Hindu Balinese Intellectuals (VU University Press, 1993); Hauser-Schäublin B., Bali: Cosmos and Earth (Phaidon, 1991); Reuter T., Custodians of the Sacred Mountains (University of Hawaii Press, 2002)