Pannai

Pannai, Panai or Pane is a Buddhist kingdom existed around 11th to 14th century located on east coast of Northern Sumatra. The kingdom was located on the Barumun River and Panai River valleys, today located in Labuhan Batu Regency and South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Because of the scarcity of inscriptions and historical records, this kingdom is among the mysterious and least known polity in Indonesian history. Historian suggested that the Pannai kingdom was probably a principality or a vassal allied under the Srivijayan mandala and later to Dharmasraya kingdom. The historical records mentioning this kingdom can be found from Indian and Javanese sources.

Despite the lack of local historical records, on the upstream of these rivers however, 16 Buddhist Vajrayana temples were discovered. These temples today are known as Padanglawas temple compounds, one of them are Bahal temple. Experts suggest that the existence of the temples is related to the Kingdom of Pannai. The temples is the traces of Vajranaya Buddhism in Sumatra. The place is most probably a religious-complex for warrior-monks of and had a key role, being located mid-way in the Strait of Malacca in policing the trade within the area and repelling invading forces as well as providing spiritual guidance to any pilgrim from China, India or within the archipelago.