Here is your short essay on on “Java : an island of Indonesia” for school and college students !
Java (Indonesian: Jawa) is an island of Indonesia and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. Once the centre of powerful Hindu kingdoms, Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia. Home to a population of 130 million in 2006, it is the most populous island in the world, ahead of Honshu, the main island of Japan. Java is also one of the most densely populated regions on Earth.
Formed mostly as the result of volcanic events, Java is the 13th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in Indonesia. A chain of volcanic mountains forms an east-west spine along the island. It has three main languages, though Javanese is dominant and is the native language of 60 million people in Indonesia, most of whom live on Java.
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Most residents are bilingual, with Indonesian as their second language. While the majority of Javanese are Muslim, Java has a diverse mixture of religious beliefs and cultures. The three cultural types each associated with its distinct social-structural nuclei are as follows:
(i) ‘Abangan’ tradition-associated with the village. Javanese villages are originally inhabited by people professing animistic beliefs. With the arrival of the Hindus and later the Muslims, a syncretic tradition combining animistic, Hinduistic and Islamic elements arose. Geertz describes it as “…the island’s true folk tradition, the basic substratum of its civilisation…”
(ii) ‘Santri’ tradition-associated with the market. The ‘Santri’ tradition is associated with a more puristic version of Islam. It consists of careful and regular performance of the major Islamic rituals, namely, the daily prayers, the fast and the Pilgrimage to Mecca. Whole complexes of social, charitable and political Islamic organisations form an important part of this tradition.
(iii) ‘Prijaji’ tradition-associated with the white-collar elite. The white collar elite descendants of the hereditary aristocracy whose roots lie in the pre- colonial Hindu-Javanese courts. The Prijaji tradition thus stresses Hinduistic and Buddhist elements. It is marked by a complex art of dance, drama, poetry and mysticism. However, colonialism and the Western influence has lead to this group becoming highly secularised, westernised and anti-traditional. Yet, the elite prijaji life-style still remains a model for the entire society.