Sanskrit as A Vehicle for the Emergence of Inda-Indonesia Cultural Relationship | 1 SANSKRIT AS A VEHICLE FOR THE EMERGENCE OF INDIA-INDONESIA CULTURAL RELATIONSHIP I. B. Putu SUAMBA Politeknik Negeri Bali suambaindiya@yahoo.com Abstract Significant influence of Indian culture in the archipelago was due to the role of Sanskrit played in addition to strategic position the archipelago has in the world. When the encounter between Indian cultures with local culture happened in ancient times, there were some rooms for Sanskrit to be used as medium of expressions. The result was the emergence of textual traditions producing a huge number of inscriptions and texts. In comparison with Indo-China region, it is only in Indonesia Sanskrit and Old Javanese have produced a huge number of literatures covering various subjects of life both religious and non-religious. It has been studied in an intensive manner in teaching and learning tradition in a long span of time. It has a force that can harmonize various differences exist in society. However, the decline of Sanskrit learning perhaps due to the conversion of the people into Muslim in 15th century; and cultural contact between the two cultures got lessened till faded away in the post Majapahit period. Sanskrit as a vehicle of culture covers various aspect of life, like art, science, literature, etc. Keywords: Indian culture, Sanskrit, Old Javanese, inscription, and literature I INTRODUCTION Since ancient times Indonesian archipelago had become the confluence (saÉgam) of various foreign influences, like Indian, Middle East, Chinese, and European in modern times. Each of them had exercised its influence over the others in a long span of time; some were dominant and still the others were less dominant even faded away leaving no imprints in the course of time. Some of them had undergone adaptation, assimilation or even fusion causing the emergence of new modes of expression different from that of their origins. In this case, the role of local or indigenous people along with local culture, tradition, and custom to assimilate between external and internal cultures was significant, especially in the Old Javanese period. On the arrival of them – one factor seems to be responsible – was due to the strategic position of the archipelago vastly spreading in between two continents, viz. Asia and Australia, and two oceans, viz. Indian and Atlantic causing this region as an interesting meeting point. This is obviously a challenging phenomenon in cultural studies. According to historians, the spreading of Indian culture in South East Asian region started in the beginning of Christian era or even earlier than that period; trade was perhaps the main motif of Indian sailors went off shore embarking from ports along eastern coast including those in Bay of Bengal. It is still doubted the manner of Indian culture had arrived in the archipelago; whether it was mediated by the Indo China region or directly came from India sub-continent. The imprints of it can be seen in various forms of expressions either tangible or intangible in some islands, like Kalimantan (Borneo), Sumatra, Java, Bangka, and Bali. Not only reaching the culture of this region, but also enriching the culture of it and promoting pluralism in various aspects of life; a treasure, which have been cultivated by the persons living in it. For a Sanskrit lover, he/she can easily identify Sanskrit loan word, which can be found in local languages, names of concept, building, institution, people, road, etc. despite the fact some changings in spelling, writing or pronunciation may happen due to locality or dialect. When he/she has a chance to travel along the road in cities, Sanskrit is noticeable. The numbers of Sanskrit words in local languages even Bahasa Indonesia is significant. This paper attempts to study the existence and role of Sanskrit in the spreading of Indian culture in Southeast Asia region, especially in Indonesia since the beginning of its course. A question may be raised in the stage that why such massive Indian influence penetrated almost all regions of this vast land when system of communication and/or transportation was still traditional. What is the role of Sanskrit in introducing Indian culture in ancient archipelago? The imprints of it are available in various aspects of life and culture of those people living in this region. Sanskrit is reflected in various local languages, including Old Javanese (known as ‘ kavi’). II MATERIALS AND METHOD This study used some texts and works that have been completed by researchers i in the concerned areas. They give sufficient information, which can be profited to analyse the existence, and role the Sanskrit played in introducing Indian