Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c46.2

c46.2

THE island of Java in the Malay Archipelago received the same form of religio-culture as that which developed in India, conveyed to it in the same manner as the other countries of Greater India, by means of progressive movements which infiltrated into it during the course of the first millennium. Specific indication of this contact are first seen in certain Sanskrit inscription of the fourth century discovered in the western portion of the island, but of any structures connected with these, there are no traces. It is in the region east of this, towards the centre of the country that the earliest and principal architectural remains are to be found. Here it may be explained that owing to the longitudinal shape and orientation of the island as a whole, it has been found expedient to resolve the country politically into three regions, referred to as West, Middle, and East, and accordingly in this order the building art of Java will be described.