PEOPLE OF INDONESIA
The Arab, Chinese and the Indian immigrants are known to have settled in Indonesia especially in the coastal cities. The local dialect spoken by Indonesian is Bahasa Indonesia (official), English, and Dutch.
The major ethnic groups surviving here are:
• Minangkabaunese,
• Malay,
• Javanese,
• Sundanese,
• Maduranese, and
• Ambonnese.
The chief religions thriving in this place includes Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Indonesia is covered with majority of Muslim population which covers about 86% of the area while the 11% thriving in the sector are Christian where two third of its portion are Protestants in nature, while 2% of the population are constituted with Hindus, and the rest 1% are Buddhist.
ARTS, CULTURE AND MUSIC OF INDONESIA
Art : The art of applying wax polish and tie dying on a cloth, prevalently known as Batik, is quite widespread in the area of Yogyakarta within the Java district. The crafts that the local natives resort to are ikat, the local weaving style, Songket, golden thread designed on a silk cloth and kris, jewel-adorned artwork.
Culture: Watch out for mock battles in the area of Sumba that relates to the disastrous warfare of the ancient times that usually occur in the month of February and March. It is usually the day before Balinese Caka New Year that is celebrated in the month of March-April, were temple shrines are carried to the sea and dipped in holy waters along with the drummers who wade away evil spirits from it. The Balinese festival is quite famous in the region of Galungan, where gods supposedly reside to the earth and participate in the carousing. Several other festivals are held here like the Easter parade that are held in the Larantuka Island, the Torajan festival which is a major funeral feast function that takes place in the area of central Sulawesi. The Indonesian cuisines are manipulated by Chinese flavors, where the local dishes include delicacies like Nasi goring, while sate; gado-gado and seafood, that add spice to life.
Music: The Javanese wayang (the popular puppet shows) and gamelan, is a spellbinding music accompanied with drums, are quite renowned in this region. Kecapi suling is based on instrumental composition that links well with the tembang sunda, which is usually heard in the region of Java. The most accepted Indonesian music can be referred to the gamelan music, which is escorted with instruments like metallophones, drums, gongs, spike fiddles and bamboo flutes. The Pop Music exists here in the form of Pop Sunda, Pop Minang, Pop Batak and much more assorted ranges. Some of the major dance music of the area includes Tapanuli ogong, Gambus, Jaipongan, Dangdut, and Kroncong.
The native's resort to several theatrical performances and celebrations, which includes the renowned wayang kulit shadow theatre, wayang orang, unmasked dance, and wayang topeng masked dance. These plays are based on mythological aspects and episodes relating to the several ancient epics of the old times like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
Wayang topeng is a popular based masked dance, which is performed at the eastern Javanese courts, that has close links with the prehistoric animistic dance witnessed in the Pacific islands.
Wayang orang is a Java based impressive kind of dance-drama, which was mainly participated by the female members of the 9th-century.
Do indulge in Ketoprak and ludruk performances that are celebrated by a group of 150 to 200 proficient troupes.
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