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People and Culture

The great majority of the Javanese—88 percent—are Muslims, and in fact Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world. Still, older threads of Hinduism, Buddhism and many regional ethnic cultures are deeply woven into Javanese culture. Hindu epics, the Mahabharata and Ramayana, are still the chief source of material for the very popular shadow puppet theater, wayangkulit, and drama, wayang orang.

Javanese music, played on the famous gamelan orchestra of metallophones, drums, gongs and other mostly percussion instruments, is a holdover from the days of the Hindu courts.

Batik, fabric that has been patterned through repeated dyeings over a wax resist, is sometimes considered a Javanese invention, although it is perhaps more likely that the techniques came from India. Whatever the source, Javanese batik is today very popular.

Geography

Several of Java's volcanoes are still active, and Merapi erupted in November 1994, killing more than 60 people. Java's most famous eruption occurred in 1883, when Krakatau exploded.