Religion

The initial religious system of the Sundanese was animism and dynamism with reverence to ancestral and natural spirits, yet bears some traits of monotheism. The best indications are found in the oldest epic poems (wawacan) and among the remote Baduy tribe. This religion is called Sunda Wiwitan ("early Sundanese").^[5] The rice agriculture had shaped the culture, beliefs and ritual system of traditional Sundanese people, among other the reverence to Nyai Pohaci Sanghyang Asri as the goddess of rice and fertility. The land of Sundanese people in Western Java is among the earliest place in Indonesian archipelago that being exposed to Indian Hindu-Buddhist influences. Tarumanagara followed by Sunda Kingdom adopted Hinduism as early as 4th century. The Batujaya stupa complex in Karawang shows Buddhist influences in West Java.
Around 15th to 16th century Islam began to spread among Sundanese people, accelerated after the fall of Hindu Sunda Kingdom and the establishment of Islamic Sultanate of Banten and Cirebon in coastal West Java. Today, most Sundanese are Muslims.