Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, invoked the chanting of 'Om Namah Shivaya' at the ancient Prambanan temple complex in Indonesia as a proud moment for every Indian, pledging that the two nations will work together to preserve and revive their shared civilisational heritage.

Context

In his post, CM Sarma wrote: 'Hearing the resonance of Om Namah Shivaya at the historic Prambanan temple in Indonesia is a moment of pride for every Indian. India and Indonesia will work together for the conservation and revival of this shared cultural heritage. This is a powerful symbol of our centuries-old civilisational friendship.'

The Prambanan temple complex, located in Central Java, is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound primarily dedicated to Lord Shiva. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 and stands as one of the most significant surviving monuments of Hindu civilisation outside the Indian subcontinent.

Policy Backdrop

India and Indonesia share a bilateral Cultural Agreement dating back to 1955, covering cooperation in archaeology, performing arts, and museology. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2018 visit to Indonesia, both sides agreed to intensify joint conservation efforts at Hindu-Buddhist heritage sites, including Prambanan.

India has periodically extended technical assistance for the restoration of Prambanan since the 1950s, reflecting a long-standing commitment to preserving the region's pre-Islamic Hindu-Buddhist legacy. These efforts sit squarely within India's Act East Policy, which uses cultural diplomacy as a bridge to deepen people-to-people ties with ASEAN nations.

Indonesia's own history is deeply intertwined with Indian civilisational influence. Powerful Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms such as the Sailendra and Mataram dynasties drew extensively on Indian religious, architectural, and literary traditions, leaving behind monuments like Prambanan that endure as shared heritage.

Stakeholders and Impact

Heritage conservationists and the Hindu diaspora across Southeast Asia are the most immediate stakeholders in any deepened India-Indonesia cultural cooperation. For India, such engagement reinforces a broader diplomatic narrative: that shared civilisational roots can serve as a durable foundation for contemporary strategic and economic partnerships.

CM Sarma, as a senior BJP leader and convenor of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), is well-placed to amplify this message, given that India's northeastern states sit at the geographic and cultural crossroads of the Act East Policy. His remarks signal alignment between state-level political voices and the Union government's foreign-policy priorities.

What's Next

Observers will watch for any formal announcement of a joint India-Indonesia heritage working group or a dedicated conservation project at Prambanan, potentially at the next ASEAN-India Summit. Such a move would translate the rhetorical commitment expressed in posts like Sarma's into a structured bilateral mechanism.

The broader pattern suggests that cultural diplomacy centred on sites like Prambanan will continue to grow as a pillar of India's engagement with Southeast Asia, reinforcing ties that go well beyond trade and security into the realm of shared identity and memory.