ImportMaster at 13:43, 29 April 2022

2022-04-29T13:43:56Z

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{{Short description|Supreme God of Indonesian Hinduism}}
{{For|a concept in Deravada Buddhism|Acinteyya}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Hindu
| image = Acintya_Bali.jpg
| caption = Depiction of Acintya as radiating sun god, on the back of an empty throne, [[Jimbaran]], [[Bali]]
| name = Acintya, Tunggal<br>Sanghyang Widhi Wasa
| affiliation = Supreme God
| symbol = empty throne
}}
'''Acintya''' (from [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]]: अचिन्त्य, "the inconceivable", "the unimaginable"),<ref name="Wiener1995p51">{{cite book|author=Margaret J. Wiener|title=Visible and Invisible Realms: Power, Magic, and Colonial Conquest in Bali|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Kpbq-5J1ioC |year=1995|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-88580-3|pages=51–55 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Helen M. Creese|title=Bali in the Early Nineteenth Century: The Ethnographic Accounts of Pierre Dubois|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tQpRDAAAQBAJ |year=2016|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-31583-9|pages=226–227}}</ref> also known as '''Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa''' ([[Balinese language|Balinese]]: "The Divine Order") and '''Sang Hyang Tunggal''' ("The Divine Oneness"),<ref name="Wiener1995p51"/><ref name=healing>{{cite book |last1=Hobart |first1=Angela |title=Healing Performances of Bali: Between Darkness and Light |date=2003 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=9781571814814 |page=151 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iheRgW_T0_MC&pg=PA151}}</ref><ref name=hobart>{{cite book |last1=Hobart |first1=Angela |title=Dancing Shadows of Bali: Theatre and Myth |date=1987 |publisher=KPI |isbn=9780710301086 |page=48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WksOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA48}}</ref> is the Supreme God of [[Hinduism in Indonesia|Indonesian Hinduism]] (formally known as ''Agama Hindu Dharma''), especially on the island of [[Bali]]. Acintya is equivalent to the metaphysical concept of [[Brahman]] of Indian Hinduism, and is the Supreme God in traditional ''[[wayang]]'' ([[shadow puppet]]) theatre.<ref name=hobart/> All gods, goddesses and existence are believed to be the manifestation of the Acintya in Balinese Hinduism.<ref name="Wiener1995p51"/>

==Role==
[[File:Empty throne to the Supreme God Bali.jpg|thumb|left|Empty throne to the Supreme God]]
Acintya corresponds to a rather recent trend towards [[monism]] in Bali, according to which there is one [[Creator deity|supreme deity]], and that all other gods are only [[Avatar|manifestations]] of him.<ref name=baliguide>{{cite book |last1=Toh |first1=Irene |last2=Morillot |first2=Juliette |last3=Guthrie-Haer |first3=Debbie |title=Bali: A Traveller's Companion |date=2010 |publisher=Editions Didier Millet |isbn=9789814260268 |pages=45–46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y4WGcgAACAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Reader |first1=Lesley |last2=Ridout |first2=Lucy |title=The Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok |date=2002 |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=9781858289021 |page=97 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JlcL6HeY-uAC&pg=PA97}}</ref> Acintya is emptiness, and considered as the origin of the Universe, all other divinities emanating from him.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wiener |first1=Margaret J. |title=Visible and Invisible Realms: Power, Magic, and Colonial Conquest in Bali |date=1995 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226885827 |page=51 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GE1uc1UNXNYC&pg=PA51}}</ref>

He is often associated to the [[sun god]],<ref name=baliguide/> and depicted in human form with flames around him.<ref name=baliguide/> His nakedness expresses that "his consciousness is no longer carried away by his sense-faculties".<ref name=healing/>

Prayers and offerings are not made directly to Acintya, but also to the other manifestations of the deity.<ref name=baliguide/> He is often not even represented, in which case he is only evoked by an [[empty throne]] on top of a pillar (the ''[[padmasana (shrine)|Padmasana]]'', lit. "[[lotus throne]]"), inside Balinese temples.<ref>{{cite book |title=Bali & Lombok |date=1 May 2015 |isbn=978-1743213896 |page=26 |edition=15|last1=Berkmoes |first1=Ryan Ver }}</ref>

The introduction of the ''Padmasana'' as an altar to the Supreme God, was the result of a 16th-century Hindu reformation movement, led by [[Dang Hyang Nirartha]], the priest of the [[Gelgel, Indonesia|Gelgel]] King Batu Renggong (also Waturenggong), at the time when [[Islam]] was spreading from the west through [[Java island|Java]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Bali & Lombok |date=1 May 2015 |isbn=978-1743213896 |pages=46–47 |edition=15|last1=Berkmoes |first1=Ryan Ver }}</ref> Dang Hyang Nirartha built temples in Bali, and added the ''Padmasana'' shrines to the temples he visited.<ref>{{cite book |title=Bali, sekala and niskala|author=Eiseman Jr, Fred B.|date=1990 |publisher=Periplus Editions |isbn=0-945971-03-6 |page=266}}</ref>

==Political aspects==
[[File:Acintya at the Bali Museum.jpg|thumb|Statuette of Acintya, [[Bali Museum]]]]
Since the end of [[World War II]] and the [[Indonesian War of Independence]], the [[Republic of Indonesia]] has adopted the political philosophy of ''[[Pancasila (politics)|Pancasila]]'' (literally, "The five principles"), which allows for freedom of religion. The statute, however, requires that the religion in question be [[monotheistic]], i.e., based upon the belief in a single, omnipotent deity. Under this system, six religions are recognised: [[Islam]], [[Buddhism]], [[Catholicism]], [[Protestantism]], [[Hinduism]] and later on [[Confucianism]].<ref name=eiseman>{{cite book |title=Bali, sekala and niskala|author=Eiseman Jr, Fred B.|date=1990 |publisher=Periplus Editions |isbn=0-945971-03-6 |pages=38–39}}</ref>
To comply with regulations, Balinese Hindus have felt the need to reinforce the monotheistic component of the faith, thus the more emphasised role of Acintya.<ref>McDaniel, June (2013), A Modern Hindu Monotheism: Indonesian Hindus as 'People of the Book'. The Journal of Hindu Studies, Oxford University Press, {{doi|10.1093/jhs/hit030}}</ref> To refer to him, they selected the term '''Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa''' (glossed as "God Almighty"), which although coined in the 1930s by Protestant missionaries to describe the [[God in Christianity|Christian God]], was thought to be well-adapted to describe the Hindu supreme deity.<ref name=eiseman/> This is thus the name which is now more commonly used by modern Balinese.<ref name=baliguide/>

==See also==
* [[Sanghyang Adi Buddha|Adi-Buddha]]
* [[Bhagavan]]
* [[Brahman]]
* [[Hinduism in Indonesia]]
* [[Hyang]]
* [[Ishvara]]
* [[Shen (Chinese religion)]]
* [[Tathāgata]]
* [[Tengri]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Names of God}}

[[Category:Hindu gods]]
[[Category:Hinduism in Bali]]
[[Category:Indonesian gods]]
[[Category:Names of God in Hinduism]]

Acintya - Revision history

ImportMaster at 13:43, 29 April 2022