Wong Chun Wai ANN/THE STAR – Despite the long-standing temptation, it took me ages to finally visit Yogyakarta, which is a crying shame because this Indonesian city is just a hop, skip and jump away from Kuala Lumpur. Regarded as the centre of traditional art and cultural heritage, this is the home of the massive […]
Indonesia’s ancient Borobudur Temple, the world’s largest Buddhist holy site, is in the spotlight as the country navigates growing its travel sector while ensuring tourism remains sustainable. The sacred 9th-century temple has long been a tourist attraction, drawing up to four million local and international visitors every year before the pandemic. Indonesia wants to further promote Borobudur, including it in.
3325722 orig
We often hear that Indian rulers throughout history never invaded other countries – never established colonies in foreign lands. The above statements are made, no doubt, to extol the virtues of our Hindu/Buddhist civilization – its emphasis on high philosophy, a penchant for peace, and deep-rooted spiritual (as opposed to materialistic) values. History generally bears out the validity of these statements. There are, however, some very notable exceptions.
The earliest example of foreign invasion (to Lanka) comes from Ramayana, whose historicity is, at best, questionable. But we cannot deny that the ethos for foreign invasions clearly finds favor in Ramayana. Of course, gods like Rama are judged differently from mere mortals like us. Then, there is in a famous Bengali poem, the legend of Vijaysingha, a prince from Bengal, subjugating the same Lanka (a favorite whipping boy, it seems) and rechristened it Simhala. A similar legend, I am told, exists in Sri Lanka that