Religion
Hinduism and Buddhism once dominated the island, however Islam, gradually supplanted Hinduism in the 14th and 15th centuries (see the spread of Islam in Indonesia). The last nobles and loyalists of the fallen empire of Majapahit fled from this point to Bali. Islam spread from northern cities in Java where traders from Gujarat, India brought with them Islam. The eastern part of East Java, from Surabaya to Pasuruan, and the cities along the coast, and back to Banyuwangi to Jember, are known as the "horseshoe area" in context with earlier Muslim communities living there.
Pockets of Hinduism remain, and syncretic abangan streams of Islam and Hinduism remain strong (see Hinduism in Java).
Read more about this topic: East Java
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“Never has any one been less a priest than Jesus, never a greater enemy of forms, which stifle religion under the pretext of protecting it. By this we are all his disciples and his successors; by this he has laid the eternal foundation-stone of true religion; and if religion is essential to humanity, he has by this deserved the Divine rank the world has accorded him.”
—Ernest Renan (1823–1892)
“The stallion and his mare,
unbridled, with arrow-pattern,
are worked on.
the blue cloth
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of religion and inspiration....”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)
“The great end of all religion ... is to purify our hearts—and conquer our passions—and in a word, to make us wiser and better men—better neighbours—better citizens—and better servants of GOD.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)