National Museum of Indonesia The Gedung Gajah located in the south side, or left from the entrance, is the old wing and the original museum structure which was built during colonial Dutch East Indies era. Popularly named as "gedung gajah" (Indonesian for elephant building) to refer the bronze elephant statue in front of the building, which was the gift of Siamese King Chulalongkorn. The museum collections are grouped and arranged by subjects: The National Museum of Indonesia has the richest and the largest collection of Hindu-Buddhist art of ancient Indonesia. The Hindu-Buddhist sculptures, relics and inscriptions was collected from Java, Bali, Sumatra, and Borneo,
History of Indonesia was probably the predecessor of the Tarumanagara kingdom, one of the earliest Hindu kingdoms in Indonesia, producing numerous inscriptions and marking the beginning of the historical period in Java. Indonesia like much of Southeast Asia was influenced by Indian culture. From the 2nd century, through the Indian dynasties like the Pallava, Gupta, Pala and Chola in the succeeding centuries up to the 12th century, Indian culture spread across all of Southeast Asia. References to the Dvipantara or Yawadvipa, a Hindu kingdom in Java and Sumatra appear in Sanskrit writings from 200 BCE. In India's earliest epic, the Ramayana, Sugriva, the