Hyang (Kawi, Sundanese, Javanese, and Balinese) is a representation of the supreme being, in ancient Java and Bali mythology.[1] The spiritual entity can be either considered divine or ancestral. The reverence for this spiritual entity can be found in the folk religions of Java and Bali, such as the Sunda Wiwitan (Sundanism or Cigugur Sundanism), Kejawen (non-monotheistic Javanism), Kapitayan (monotheistic Javanism), and Gama Tirta (Balinism). The realm where Hyang resides is called the Kahyangan, which is an Old Javanese term that means "the abode of Hyang", "part of Hyang", or "heaven".
The Old Sundanese manuscript Sanghyang Siksa Kandang Karesian,[2] has stated that Hyang can be interpreted as "Omnipotence". Similarly, in the highest Sunda Wiwitan Spirituality, Hyang is also referred to as Sang Hyang Kersa (the Powerful).[3]
Gama Tirta Balinism describes Hyang as a venerated spiritual existence that deserves special reverence. Hyang is commonly described as a sacred and luminous personal form. It is also referred to as the name for a spiritual existence that has supernatural powers, portrayed like the sun in a dream and often mentioned in a masculine form. A Hyang's arrival in a person's life is reputed to give great contentment and happiness to the person. Indonesians generally recognize this term to refer to the cause of beauty, the cause of all existence (creator), or simply to refer to God.
In Kejawen Javanism, the concept of the monotheistic God is described as the Sang Hyang Tunggal or Sang Hyang Wenang. Raden Ngabehi Ranggawarsita in his book, Paramayoga, detailed the names and designations for Javanese concept of God as the objective of worship, including Sang Hyang Suksma Kawekas, Sang Hyang Suksmesa, Sang Hyang Amurbeng Rat, Sang Hyang Sidhem Permanem, Sang Hyang Maha Luhur, Sang Hyang Wisesaning Tunggal, Sang Hyang Wenanging Jagad, Sang Hyang Maha Tinggi, Sang Hyang Manon, Sang Hyang Maha Sidhi, Sang Hyang Warmana, Sang Hyang Atmaweda, etc.[4]
The term Hyang is Old Javanese in origin. It means "god", "goddess", "deified being", or "divinity". It remains in Javanese: ꦲꦾꦁ|Hyang and Balinese: ᬳ᭄ᬬᬂ|Hyang, which bears the same meaning. In Old Sundanese, the term "nga-hyang" means "disappear" or "unseen". In its development, the term "hyang" became the root word for many terms that are still known and used in modern Indonesian:
In Old Javanese, the term Hyang means "god", "goddess", "deified being", or "divinity". It remains in Javanese: ꦲꦾꦁ|Hyang and Balinese: ᬳ᭄ᬬᬂ|Hyang, which bears the same meaning.
The term hyang, now widely associated with Sunda Wiwitan, Kejawen, and Balinism, developed in ancient Java and Bali more than a millennium ago. This term has its roots in the traditional animism and dynamism in the beliefs of indigenous Indonesians native to the Indonesian archipelago.[8] Native pre-Hindu, pre-Buddhist, and pre-Islamic Indonesians have venerated and revered ancestral spirits. They also believed that some spirits may inhabit certain places such as large trees, stones, forests, mountains, or sacred places. The hyang concept had indigenously developed in the Indonesian archipelago and is not considered to have originated from Indian dharmic religions.
Before the adoption of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, the natives of the Indonesian archipelago believed in powerful but unseen spiritual entities that could be both benevolent and malevolent. They also believed that the deceased ancestor had not gone away or disappeared completely. The ancestral spirit may gain god-like spiritual power and remain involved in their offspring’s worldly affairs. That is why the veneration and reverence to honor ancestors is an important element in the belief system of native ethnic groups, such as Nias, Dayak, Toraja, and Papuan ethnic groups, as well as many ethnic groups in Indonesia.
In ancient Sundanese, Javanese, and Balinese societies, this unseen spiritual entity is identified as "hyang". These ancestral divine spirits are believed to inhabit high places, such as mountains, hills, and volcanoes. These mountainous regions are considered sacred realms, as the abode of gods and the resting place for the soul of the ancestors.
Several ancient Indonesian inscriptions dated from the Hindu-Buddhist period (8th to 15th century) mentioned Hyang either as the name of the sanctuary or the name of a deity revered in multiple temples.[9]
"Hyangs" are said to only move in straight lines. Accordingly, traditional Balinese buildings have a wall called an just inside the doorway, which keeps the spirits out because they only move in straight lines, and hence bounce off.[10] Similar walls can be seen at the entrance of some Javanese cemeteries. Parallel beliefs are found in other spiritual traditions, as in British corpse roads.
The concept of hyang can be situated in native Indonesian religions in several ways: