Impacts of Religion and How did Hinduism and Buddhism spread to SouthEast Asia?

In Southeast Asia, religions had great impacts on the way that the people lived. The religions guided many Southeast Asian rulers in the way the governed.

For example, Khmer kings became devarajas and had their people construct capital cities in which their palaces represented the home of the gods.

Meanwhile, many rulers of island Southeast Asia adopted Islam and called themselves sultans. Hence, their kingdoms were called sultanates.

People of Southeast Asia did not entirely follow the teachings of their new religions and abandon their old beliefs. They combined their older beliefs with the teachings of their new religions.

For example, upon their conversion to Islam, rulers of maritime Southeast Asian kingdoms no longer saw themselves as gods but they continued to use emblems of his kingship, which were usually used by divine Hindu kings.

Up till to day, the 3 religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam) are still used and taught in Southeast Asia. Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei are countries where the majority of the people are Muslims. While in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar, people are mostly Buddhists. In Southeast Asia, Hinduism only survived in the Indonesian island of Bali.