British Historian Receives Sanghyang Kamahayanikan Award

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Samana Foundation, the initiator of the 2014 Borobudur Writers and Cultural Festival is set to give the Sanghyang Kamahayanikan Award to British historian Peter B.R. Carey. The award will be given in Yogyakarta on Saturday, November 15.

The Sanghyang Kamahayanikan is given to those who have large contributions to the study of Indonesian history and culture. Peter is a historian who has spent a lifetime to study the power of Java conquerors. He also studied the life of Javanese national hero Pangeran (Prince) Diponegoro.

“Peter B.R. Carey is chosen by a panel of judges formed by Samana Foundation,” the chief of the organizer Yoke Darmawan wrote to Tempo on Thursday.

Peter, who is also set to speak about Prince Diponegoro on the awarding day, has written a book entitled ‘The Power of Prophecy: Prince Dipanagara and the End of an Old Order in Java, 1785–1855’ . The book describes how the Dutch colonial had broken the Javanese order and the war led by the Prince.

The Borobudur Writers and Cultural Festival will be held in Magelang, Central Java, starting from November 12 to 15. The theme carried by the festival this year is "Ratu Adil: Kuasa dan Pemberontakan di Nusantara” (The Just King: Power and Rebels in the Indonesian Archipelago).

SHINTA MAHARANI