Javanese script in the context of "Kawi language"

Javanese (/ˌdʒɑːvəˈniːz/ JAH-və-NEEZ, /dʒævə-/ JAV-ə-, /-ˈniːs/ -⁠NEESS; Basa Jawa, Javanese script: ꦧꦱꦗꦮ, Pegon: باسا جاوا‎, IPA: [bɔsɔ d͡ʒɔwɔ]) is an Austronesian language spoken primarily by the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, Indonesia. There are also pockets of Javanese speakers on the northern coast of western Java. It is the native language of more than 68 million people.

Javanese is the largest of the Austronesian languages in number of native speakers. It has several regional dialects and a number of clearly distinct status styles. Its closest relatives are the neighboring languages such as Sundanese, Madurese, and Balinese. Most speakers of Javanese also speak Indonesian for official and commercial purposes as well as a means to communicate with non-Javanese-speaking Indonesians.

Prambanan (Indonesian: Candi Prambanan, Javanese: Rara Jonggrang, Hanacaraka: ꦫꦫꦗꦺꦴꦁꦒꦿꦁ) is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, in southern Java, Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimūrti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the Preserver (Vishnu) and the Destroyer (Shiva). The temple compound is located approximately 17 kilometres (11 mi) northeast of the city of Yogyakarta on the boundary between Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces.

The temple compound, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia and the second-largest in Southeast Asia after Angkor Wat. It is characterized by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu architecture, and by the towering 47-metre-high (154 ft) central building inside a large complex of individual temples. Prambanan temple compounds originally consisted of 240 temple structures, which represented the grandeur of ancient Java's Hindu art and architecture, and is also considered as a masterpiece of the classical period in Indonesia. Prambanan attracts many visitors from around the world.

Madurese (/ˌmædʒʊˈriːz/ MAD-juh-REEZ; Bhâsa Madhurâ, Pegon script: ݒا࣪سا ماڊۅرا࣪, Carakan script: ꦧꦱꦩꦝꦸꦫ, IPA: [bʰɤsa maʈʰurɤ]) is a language of the Madurese people, native to the Madura Island and eastern part of Java, Indonesia; it is also spoken by migrants to other parts of Indonesia, namely the Surabaya, Malang, Gresik, eastern salient of Java (comprising Pasuruan, Bondowoso, Probolinggo, Situbondo, Jember, Lumajang, to Banyuwangi), the Masalembu Islands, Raas Islands, and some on Kalimantan. It was traditionally written in the Javanese script, but the Latin script and the Pegon script (based on Arabic script) is now more commonly used. The number of speakers, though shrinking, is estimated to be 10–14 million, making it one of the most widely spoken languages in the country. Bawean language, which is a dialect of Madurese, is also spoken by Bawean people in Bawean Island, Indonesia. Then also by their descendants in Malaysia and Singapore.

Pegon (Javanese and Sundanese: اَكسارا ڤَيڮَون‎, romanized: Aksara Pégon; also known as اَبجَد ڤَيڮَون‎, Abjad Pégon; Madurese: أبجاْد ڤَيگو, Abjâd Pèghu) is a modified Arabic script used to write the Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese languages, as an alternative to the Latin script or the Javanese script and the Old Sundanese script. It was used in a variety of applications, from religion, to diplomacy, to poetry. But today particularly, it is used for religious (Islamic) writing and poetry, particularly in writing commentaries of the Qur'an. Pegon includes letters that are not present in Modern Standard Arabic. Pegon has been studied far less than its Jawi counterpart which is used for Malay, Acehnese and Minangkabau.

In the past few decades, the Indonesian language has grown in its prominence and role as the national language of Indonesia. Thus, publishing institutions associated with religious schools have further developed new teaching material, in order to expand the use of Pegon script to Indonesian language as well. Indonesian language, being a variety of Malay, has also been written by the sister script of Pegon, Jawi.

Semarang (Javanese: ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ, Kutha Semarang) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. The city has been named as the cleanest tourist destination in Southeast Asia by the ASEAN Clean Tourist City Standard (ACTCS) for 2020–2022.

It has an area of 373.78 km (144.32 sq mi) and had a population of 1,555,984 at the 2010 census and 1,653,524 at the 2020 census, making it Indonesia's ninth most populous city after Jakarta, Surabaya, Bekasi, Bandung, Medan, Depok, Tangerang and Palembang; the official population estimate as at mid-2023 was 1,694,740, comprising 838,440 males and 856,310 females. The built-up urban area had 3,183,516 inhabitants at the 2010 census spread over two cities and 26 districts. The Semarang metropolitan area (a.k.a. Kedungsepur) has a population of over 6 million in 2020 (see Greater Semarang section). The population of the city is predominantly Javanese with significant Chinese presence.

Manteb Soedharsono (Javanese: ꦑꦶꦩꦟ꧀ꦠꦼꦧ꧀ꦯꦸꦝꦂꦱꦤ; 31 August 1948 in Palur, Mojolaban, Sukoharjo, Central Java – 2 July 2021 in Karangpandan, Karanganyar, Central Java) was an Indonesian wayang puppeteer.

The Balinese script, (Balinese: ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬩᬮᬶ, Aksara Bali, pronounced [aksarə ˈbali]) also known as hanacaraka (Balinese: ᬳᬦᬘᬭᬓ), is an abugida used in the island of Bali, Indonesia, commonly for writing the Austronesian Balinese language, Old Javanese, Malay and the liturgical language Sanskrit. With some modifications, the script is also used to write the Sasak language, used in the neighboring island of Lombok. In the present day it is also sometimes used to write the national language Indonesian.

The script is a descendant of the Brahmi script, and so has many similarities with the modern scripts of South and Southeast Asia. The Balinese script, along with the Javanese script, is considered the most elaborate and ornate among Brahmic scripts of Southeast Asia.

Surakarta (Javanese: ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ, Pegon: سوراكارتا), known colloquially as Solo (Javanese: ꦱꦭ; Sålå), is a major city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 46.72 km (18.04 sq mi) city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoharjo Regency to the east and west, and Sukoharjo Regency to the south. On the eastern side of Solo lies Solo River (Bengawan Solo). Its metropolitan area, consisting of Surakarta City and the surrounding six regencies ("Greater Solo Area", formerly Special Region of Surakarta), was home to 6,837,753 inhabitants according to the official estimates for mid 2023, 526,870 of whom reside in the city proper.

Surakarta is the birthplace of the President of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024, Joko Widodo, as well as his son and current Vice President of Indonesia, Gibran Rakabuming Raka. The former served as Mayor of Surakarta from 2005 to 2012, as did the latter from 2021 to 2024.

The Pallava script, or Pallava Grantha, named after the Pallava dynasty of Southern India (Tamilakam) and is attested to since the 4th century CE. The Pallava script evolved from Tamil-Brahmi. It was used to originally write Tamil and Sanskrit texts  – the court languages of Pallavas, thus, it features glyphs to render the sounds of both languages. Both the Tamil script via the intermediate script/step called Chozha-Pallava-Script and Grantha script have originated from the Pallava script.

Pallava also spread to Southeast Asia and evolved into scripts such as Balinese, Baybayin, Javanese, Kawi, Khmer, Lanna, Lao, Mon–Burmese, New Tai Lue, Sundanese, and Thai. This script is the sister of the Vatteluttu script which was also used to write Tamil and Malayalam in the past.