Ancient Root-Knowledge of the Indosphere

4 min readMar 30, 2023

The geographical bioregion of Indomalaya corresponds to the cultural region of the Indosphere, which divides itself roughly between Bharat (India) and Dvipantara (Southeast Asia).

The contemporary nations of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, East Timor, the Philippines and Viẹtnam are part of a bioregion profoundly impacted by Indian culture, with its indigenous particularities and nuances.

Before and colonization by Western powers and the import of Abrahamic religions in the 1500s, it was all once an integrated Sanskrit Cosmopolis of connected mandalas, or “galactic polities” which shared a common culture and lifestyle based on the Sanskrit shastra.

All over Southeast Asia, people are now rediscovering this common culture, result of a harmonious blending of Sanskriti and Austronesian traditions.

We are part of this movement which aims to revive the authentic root-knowledge from all over the Indosphere.

The Cult of Ganesha in Southeast Asia

The Ramayana, the Niddesa and other classical texts include descriptions such as “Land of Gold” (suvarnadvipa), “Islands of Gold” (suvarnabhumi), “Islands of Camphor” (karpuradvipa) and “Island of Barley” (yavadvipa), where Brahmins migrated to in search of wealth.

Ancient travelers and traders of Maritime Southeast Asia had a famous motto: ‘Wasudhaiva-Kutumbakam’ (“the whole world is one family”).

The Indosphere: a circular, interlinked civilization

It is not as if Southeast Asia was some sort of Indian colony, but it was rather always a two-ways relationship between Dvipantara (Southeast Asia) and Jambudvipa (India), or even a circular relationship among all the kingdoms of Southeast Asia.

In the Matsya Purana is mentioned for the first time the cultural unity of Jambudvipa and Dvipantara.

There was no “Indianization” per se, but more of a continuum of civilization during a Golden Age over two millennia, local cultures and religious traditions were standardized within the fold of Hinduism in Southeast Asia, which became richer and more complete due to its integration of local wisdom.