 The art of batik is most highly developed in the island of Java in Indonesia . In Java , all the materials for the process are readily available — cotton and beeswax and plants from which different vegetable dyes are made . Indonesian batik predates written records : G. P. Rouffaer argues that the technique might have been introduced during the 6th or 7th century from India or Sri Lanka . On the other hand , the Dutch archaeologist J.L.A. Brandes and the Indonesian archaeologist F.A. Sutjipto believe Indonesian batik is a native tradition , since another regions in Indonesia such as Toraja , Flores , Halmahera , and Papua , which were not directly influenced by Hinduism , have an age @-@ old tradition of batik making . 
