Three weddings

Inside Plaosan Lor, the northern part of the Plaosan complex. The head-dress of the Hindu statue includes an image of a Buddhist stupa.

It is thought that the temple complex at Plaosan, which includes statues and reliefs that combine both Hindu and Buddhist elements, was constructed between 825-850 AD during the reign of Pramodawardhani, a Buddhist princess who was married to the Hindu prince Rakai Pikatan. Statues inside the temple at Plaosan Lor, for example, include Buddhist references as part of their head-dresses, such as the form of a seated Buddha or of a stupa. This 9th century complex highlights a very dynamic approach to faith, one in which an accommodation was clearly reached between supporters of different denominations.

This same religious dynamism is less apparent in modern Indonesia. I have recently been witnessing the gradual movement of two couples towards their nuptials. For one couple the process is pretty painless. That’s because they’re both Catholic. Sure, there’s some negotiations with the family of the bride-to-be about the appropriate bride-price, but for the legalities of the wedding itself the process will be unhindered by bureaucratic intervention.

For the other couple, though, there is much background work to be done. With one half Catholic and the other Moslem, the law states that one of them must convert to the faith of the other in order to be legally married. We went and visited a Catholic priest the other day to see what was involved, to be told that the conversion course takes a year. The crazy thing is that because it will take so long, they’re eligible for a dispensation in order to allow them to get married in the meantime. This means securing a copy of the Australian Catholic’s baptism certificate and getting a priest to agree to conduct the marriage.

This insertion by the (supposedly secular) state of itself into the private romantic and religious affairs of its citizens is far more blatant than the bipartisan approach to marriage laws in Australia. It makes me wonder what kind of dynamic social movements might be being constrained, and exactly which part of the ‘culture’ is being preserved through such laws. It would appear not to be the part that left us with archeological treasures such as Plaosan.