Bronze reclining Maja Dewi made entirely by hand on Sumatra.

Buddhism in Indonesia was an important religion in Sumatra and Java until the 15th century. After this, Islam predominated. Today, Buddhism is back to a limited extent, especially in Jakarta. Buddhism has been practiced in Indonesia since at least the 3rd century. This can be traced back to Buddha statues from that period. However, this still happened to a limited extent. Even as recently as 418, during Fa Xian's journey through the country, Buddhism was not very advanced. In the course of the 5th century, the missionary work of Indian monks underwent significant development, and at the beginning of the 7th century, I Ching reported in his travelogue that Java and Sumatra had become important Buddhist places of study.

Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. The tin content can vary from about 10 to 30%. The alloy has a reddish to yellowish color, depending on the tin content. The period in history when mankind made extensive use of objects made of bronze is traditionally called the Bronze Age. Bronze is the first metal (except for a few earlier copper objects from the Neolithic) that was used by man in the Low Countries to replace stone in the Paleolithic. It is a tough and corrosion-resistant material that lends itself well to machining. A bronze surface acquires a green patina after a certain time.