Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, shared a video of Prambanan Temple in Central Java, Indonesia, resonating with the chant Om Namah Shivaya, drawing attention to the ancient Hindu heritage preserved at the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Context

Shekhawat posted the video with the caption 'ॐ नमः शिवाय के मंत्र से गूंजा इंडोनेशिया का प्रम्बानन मंदिर' — meaning 'Indonesia's Prambanan Temple resounded with the chant of Om Namah Shivaya.' The post highlights a moment of Shaiva devotion at one of Southeast Asia's most significant Hindu temple complexes, underlining the living cultural thread that connects India and Indonesia.

Prambanan is a 9th-century Trimurti temple complex dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, built by the Sanjaya dynasty of the ancient Mataram kingdom. It remains one of the largest Hindu temple compounds in the world and draws millions of visitors annually.

Policy Backdrop

India's cultural engagement with Indonesia stretches back to the 1950s, when bilateral exchanges began spotlighting the shared Hindu-Buddhist heritage of Java and Bali. Indian participation in events such as the Ramayana ballet festivals at Prambanan has been a recurring instrument of this diplomacy.

Under India's Act East Policy, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has actively leveraged civilisational links with ASEAN nations to advance soft-power objectives. Prambanan, as a symbol of pre-Islamic Javanese Shaiva tradition, sits at the heart of this narrative, representing a shared heritage that predates modern national boundaries.

Stakeholders and Impact

The post is likely to resonate with Hindu communities in India and the Indian diaspora in Southeast Asia, for whom Prambanan holds deep religious and cultural significance. Heritage tourists and cultural organisations tracking India-Indonesia ties will also note the minister's public amplification of the site.

For Indonesia, which carefully balances its Islamic majority identity with pride in its Hindu-Buddhist antiquity, such moments of cross-border devotion at Prambanan reinforce the site's status as a living heritage destination rather than merely an archaeological monument.

What's Next

Observers of India-Indonesia cultural diplomacy will watch for follow-on announcements, particularly around joint heritage conservation projects or expanded tourist circuits linking Indian Shaiva pilgrimage sites — such as those in Varanasi or Tamil Nadu — with Prambanan. The Ministry of Culture has previously signalled interest in deepening people-to-people ties through shared religious heritage corridors in the ASEAN region.

As India continues to project civilisational soft power across Southeast Asia, ministerial attention to sites like Prambanan signals that cultural diplomacy will remain a key pillar alongside trade and security in the bilateral relationship with Jakarta.