Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, shared a video of the Prambanan temple complex in Indonesia resonating with chants of Om Namah Shivaya, highlighting the deep Hindu cultural roots that bind India and Indonesia across centuries.

Context

Goyal posted the video on X with the caption: 'ॐ नमः शिवाय के मंत्र से गूंजा इंडोनेशिया का प्रम्बानन मंदिर' — meaning 'Indonesia's Prambanan temple resounds with the chant of Om Namah Shivaya.' The post drew attention to a living cultural continuum between the two nations, underscored by the sight and sound of a Sanskrit Shaivite invocation echoing through a 9th-century temple complex on the island of Java.

Prambanan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site dedicated to the Hindu Trimurti — Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva — and stands as one of the largest Hindu temple complexes in Southeast Asia. Despite Indonesia being the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation today, its pre-Islamic heritage, shaped by powerful kingdoms such as Majapahit and Srivijaya, remains a source of national pride and cultural identity.

Policy Backdrop

The post sits squarely within India's Act East Policy, upgraded in 2014, which treats civilisational and people-to-people ties with ASEAN nations as a strategic pillar alongside trade and security cooperation. Senior ministers amplifying shared Hindu-Buddhist heritage serve as a form of soft-power diplomacy that complements formal bilateral engagements.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Indonesia in May 2018 had similarly foregrounded the two countries' shared cultural legacy — including references to the Ramayana tradition alive in Indonesian art and performance — alongside economic agreements. Goyal's post continues that pattern of cultural signalling at the ministerial level.

Indonesia is a key partner for India as a fellow G20 member and a major ASEAN economy. Strengthening the cultural dimension of the relationship helps build public goodwill that can support broader trade and strategic objectives, including ongoing negotiations under the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement review framework.

Stakeholders and Impact

The video resonates with Indonesia's Hindu minority, concentrated primarily in Bali, who maintain living traditions closely linked to Indian religious practice. It also speaks to Indian diaspora communities and cultural organisations in Southeast Asia who see such ministerial acknowledgements as validation of their heritage.

For broader audiences in both countries, the image of a Shaivite mantra reverberating through a Javanese temple complex is a powerful reminder that the cultural geography of Asia extends well beyond modern political borders. Scholars and cultural diplomacy practitioners have long argued that such shared sacred spaces are among the most effective bridges for bilateral understanding.

What's Next

Observers will watch for any follow-up announcements on India-Indonesia bilateral cultural or tourism initiatives in the 2025-2026 diplomatic calendar, including potential agreements on heritage conservation, cultural exchange programmes, or joint tourism promotion that such high-profile ministerial attention could catalyse. The post adds momentum to calls for deeper institutionalisation of the civilisational dimension of the India-Indonesia partnership.