Nalandians visited the Indonesian National Museum in Jakarta on 4 May 2014.

In conjunction with their visit to Jakarta last month, Nalandian officers had the opportunity to tour the National Museum of Indonesia together with our hosts from Buddhist Fellowship Indonesia, and friends from Buddhist Fellowship Singapore.

The ‘Museum Nasional’ in Jakarta is a treasure house of archaeological relics; especially interesting to us were Buddhist artefacts from the Srivijayan and Mataram periods.  There were hundreds of them on display including elegant statues, stone inscriptions, brassware, and wood carvings.  At the foyer of the museum itself were 4 Buddha statues taken from the great stupa of Borobudur.

Bro. Tan explaining some interesting developments in Southeast Asian history at the museum.

The Srivijayan Empire centred in Sumatra was one of the greatest Buddhist entities in Southeast Asian history.

Bro. Tan led everyone on a historical tour de force covering 1,200 years of Indonesian history in the 2-hour visit!  It was indeed an eye-opening tour and amazing experience for the officers to learn about the magnificent history and culture in our own backyard!

Group photograph with our Indonesian hosts and Singaporean friends after an enlightening tour.