Although Hinduism and Buddhism are no longer the major religions of Indonesia, Sanskrit, the language vehicle for these religions, is still held in high esteem, and its status is comparable with that of Latin in English and other Western European languages.
The loanwords from Sanskrit cover many aspects of religion, art and everyday life.
In the classical language of Java, Old Javanese, the number of Sanskrit loanwords is far greater.
Sanskrit loanwords, unlike those from other languages, have entered the basic vocabulary of Indonesian to such an extent that, for many, they are no longer perceived to be foreign.
There are some rules of forming loans from Sanskrit: s, ṣ, and ś merge to single s; v changes to w, and the original aspiration, retroflexion, and vowel length is lost (most similar to some earliest stages of Insular Indic, including the ancestor of Sinhala, Elu).