Religion in Sri Lanka

Religion in Sri Lanka

As Sri Lankan population is composed with multi-ethnic group, the religion in Sri Lanka is inevitably diverse. Various communities in Sri Lanka recognize four of the world's major religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. The majority people of the country, the Sinhalese are adherent to Buddhism while other ethnic groups like Tamils, Moors, Burghers, and others practice Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, respectively.

Experts say that religion in Sri Lanka is syncretism bending elements of Buddhism, Hinduism and spiritual beliefs of indigenous people, creating then the uniqueness of religious character of Sri Lanka. Undoubtedly, religion became an inseparably integral part of Sri Lankan society; it is the basis of social management, politics, as well as the spiritual guidance represented as the caste system, laws, and other traditional rituals. The flourishing culture of the country throughout its history is a result of religion

Buddhism in Sri Lanka

Buddhism among other religions in Sri Lanka seems to be the most important as it was claimed to be the religion of the majority Sinhalese who hold sway the country's power. In Sri Lankan history, Buddhism has played the significant role in the establishment of Sinhalese kingdoms since the early times, dating back to over two thousands years.

The first confrontation of the Sinhalese king named Devanampiyatissa and Arhat Mahinda, the celebrated missionary of Buddhism in 306 B.C. (237 years after the death of the Buddha) paved way for the establishment of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. The Arhat Mahinda was an own son of Emperor Asoka of India. The Emperor had completely converted to Buddhism and consecrated himself as patronage of religion. He intended to establish Buddhism in the island of Sri Lanka, Arhat Mahinda was then sent for this mission.

When Arhat Mahinda came to Sri Lanka, he brought with him the Theravada canon or orthodox Buddhism, regarded as the most ancient sect of Buddhism using the Pali language unlike the Mahayana Buddhism which embraces Sanskrit. Arhat Mahinda preached the Buddha's teaching not only to rulers but also directly to common people, making Buddhist education spread out rapidly. Together, constant patronage of the succeeding kings allowed Buddhism to flourish throughout the island while the numerous religious edifices soon spotted the island. Among those monasteries, the most outstanding one is the Mahavihara monastery which became the historic center of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

Mahinda's arrival in Sri Lanka marked the significant development of Sri Lankan culture; he brought about not only a new religion, but also the whole civilization of Buddhist India, be it arts, architecture, and literature. Not only culture which was graced by Buddhism, political ideology based on Buddhism had, through the course of times, embedded in the island so profoundly as well. Since the time of King Devanampiyatissa, the political state and Buddhism has been merged together according to the adoption of Asoka's strategy. The religious and the temporal institutions were closely related to one another that the support of Buddhist monks was as indispensable as that of kings had to offer to the religion. The constitutional position of Buddhism became so strong that the act against the religious institution was treated as a high treason; meanwhile, kings conduct well to gain the monk's favor for the sake of peaceful and successful government.

Buddhism was regarded the highest ethical and philosophical expression of Sinhalese culture and civilization, becoming later the significant influence on national identity among the Sinhalese Buddhists. The consciousness of Buddhist identity of the Sinhalese was so strong that they claimed Sri Lanka belonged to the Buddha, and the Sinhalese people themselves were then designated to be the "protector of Buddhism" according to the most important chronicle of the early Sinhalese-Buddhist in Sri Lanka, Mahavamsa. Particularly, for the kings, they were the "head" as well as the "defender of Buddhism". The suitable king to assert the throne must be Buddhist, and he was responsible for supporting religious institutions while constructing and restoring monasteries and other Buddhist shrines.

In times gone by, the flourishing Buddhism encountered the great change from the foreign occupation which resulted in the savagely persecuted Buddhism and introduction of Christianity into the island. Despite that, the faith in Buddhism steadily grew at the same time of nationalism against the invaders among the Sinhalese-Buddhists.

The movement of nationalism made efforts to assert the Sinhala Buddhist identity and to legitimize Sinhala control over the country's polity by reviving many elements of the "origin mythology" to reconstruct an image of the Sinhala past. The chronicle of Mahavamsa was thus served as the testament of Sinhala rights to reestablish Sinhala-Buddhist hegemony of the island over non-Sinhala and non-Buddhist groups. With the ideology that the Sinhalese were the protector of Buddhism and that Sri Lanka was belong to the Buddha, the animosity towards the foreigners and other minorities was reinforced, leading to a discrimination against non-Sinhalese and non-Buddhist.

Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka itself can be divided into three different sects.

-Siyam Nikaya (the Siamese order): In the 18th century, the official line of monastic ordination had been broken since monks at that time no longer knew the Pali tradition. The Kandyan king invited then the Theravada monks from Thailand to ordain Sinhalese novices; it was set up later as a reformed sect that enlivened study and proliferation of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

-Amarapura Nikaya: This sect was initiated by members of rising low-country castes discontent with monopoly over the monastic community by the upper castes in the 19th century. The sect was subsequently slit along the caste lines.

-Ramanna Nikaya: This sect was established in the late nineteenth century as a result of disputes over some points of doctrine and the practice of meditation.

Hinduism in Sri Lanka

Along side Buddhism, Hinduism is an important element in embodiment of Sri Lankan society. It is practiced by the Tamils in Sri Lanka whose origins trace to south India where Hinduism was predominantly practiced. Around the fifth and the sixth century A.D., the Tamil king from the south Indian kingdom named Chola usurped the throne of the Sinhalese Kingdom and conquered the island, leading to the considerable number of immigrants from south India into the northern Sri Lanka. Undoubtedly, these immigrants brought with them Hinduism to the island. During the reign of Tamil kings, Hindu shrines were widely constructed.

Unlike any other religion in the world which mostly holds monotheism, Hinduism endows a complex pantheon of gods and goddesses. A decentralized religion Hinduism is, it has no hierarchy of clergy and no supreme authority. Hinduism beliefs seem very complicated due to its countless gods and goddesses. However, the core of Hinduism is just simple; it believes in the only one "Supreme God", called Brahman. It is the "Supreme" in which every being in the universe originated; it is one unchanging and everlasting spirit. The soul or the "atman" of every being is part of the "Supreme". Gods and goddesses in Hinduism are also come from the same origin; they were only the attributes of the "Supreme". After death, every soul will reunite with this ultimate soul of the universe that means the ultimate goal of salvation.

Hinduism with the vision of gods and worship regained its popularity in 1000 A.D. after Buddhism has been in its prevalence since the third century B.C. Tamil Nadu State in south India was a major center of Brahmanical culture at that time, leading to the subsequent transmission to the Tamils immigrants in Sri Lanka Island. This type of culture strongly attaches to rituals and worship to the gods, also known as "puja".

In Sri Lanka, there are several popular gods predominating in many myths, legends, and styles of worships. The major ones are:-

-Vishnu: The preserver or sustainer. He is usually depicted with four arms holding a conch shell indicating spread of divines sound "Om"; a discus, a reminder of the wheel of time and to lead a good life; a lotus representing an example of glorious existence; and a mace symbolizing the power and the punishing capacity of the Lord if discipline in life ignore. He is much revere due to his utmost mercy and grace to his devotees. Whenever, his devotees are in difficulties, he descends to the earth in various forms of his incarnations to help them. His incarnations numbered ten, among which the Rama and Krishna incarnations are the most popular. He has a consort named Lakshmi, regarded as the Goddess of beauty and wealth. His vehicle is Garuda, a half-bird half-beast creature.

-Shiva: The God of destruction is the second major Hindu Gods and the most important god among the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Shiva is symbolized by the lingam (phallus) which represents abundance. The Lord appears as yoga in meditating posture with a third eye on his forehead indicating wisdom, a serpent coiling around his neck, and a trident in his one hand. He has his vehicle as the bull Nandi. His consort Parvati can take many forms as well. His worshippers envisage him as a comic creator who will save those who pay him totally their respect.

-Kali: Known as the "black one", Kali is the most fearsome of the Hindu deities. She is believed to be an incarnation of Parvati, Shiva's consort who provides Shakti, female energy. She is often depicted dancing on Shiva's corpse and garlanded with human skulls.

-Ganesh: The elephant-headed god, a son of Shiva and Parvati is much adored among Hindus. He is worshipped as the god of knowledge and the remover of obstacles. In his fours hands, he carries rope, an axe, and a sweet dessert ball; his fourth hand extends to bless people.

-Skanda (Kataragama): The second son of Shiva and Parvati, Skanda is also known as Subramaniam, Guha, Shadannana, Murugan, Kartikeya or Sanmukha. He is worshipped as the war God, equivalent to Mars or Ares in western mythology. Skanda bestows the spiritual powers, particularly, power of knowledge. Ironically, he is also regarded as a protective deity by Buddhist Sinhalese; they incorporated him with the battle in ancient times against South India's Tamils.

Hinduism in Sri Lanka nowadays still exits along with the mainstream of Buddhist majority, the Sinhalese with little interaction. The Hindu shrines and temples in Sri Lanka are separately managed by the Hindu Tamils; the Brahmin priests still play an important role in directing the sacred rituals as ever.

Islam in Sri Lanka

Comprising 7 % of total population of Sri Lanka, Muslims and their Islamic culture have been the integral part of Sri Lankan society for thousand years. History records that Arab traders from the Middle East visited the southern part of Sri Lanka for their business and later settled in the island. The Muslim community in Sri Lanka came to its dominant growth by the 10th century A.D. Muslims in Sri Lanka has preserved the Islam doctrines derived from Arabia while adapting some social conditions of South Asia.

The religion of Islam was founded in the seventh century A.D. by the Prophet Muhammad who experienced a series of messages from God in Mecca, a trading and religious center of Arabia. The word islam in Arabic means "submission" or "surrender"; that means people who are adherent to Islam summit to the law and the will of the only one God, Allah.

According to Islam, the God is eternal, and he endowed both men and women with immortal souls. All human beings have only one life, and at death, their souls go to either heaven or hell depending on their behavior on earth. The decent behaviors for ascending heaven were determined by the God and were sent through his messengers (Prophet) who in turn revealed the divine will for people to follow. The religious text of Qur'an is believed to be the revelations of the God transmitted through Prophet Muhammad. The Qur'an is then not only religious text rich of theology and moral system, but at the same time includes a body of laws and customs for Muslims to follow.

All Muslims share a belief in the five pillars of Islam which are the basic duties: the recitation and acceptance of the Creed (Shahada) (by saying "there is no God but Allah, and Mohammad is His Prophet"; daily prayer (five times a day ideally); paying ritual alms (Zakat or Zakah); observing the fast of Ramadan; and making the pilgrimage to Mecca (Haj).

By the fifteenth century, Arab traders dominated the trade routes through the Indian Ocean and South East Asia. Many of them reached Sri Lanka, and decided to settle down in the Island, making them detaching from Islamic culture in the Middle East, their homeland. Although they still preserved the basic doctrines and Islamic law, they also adopted some local social customs, particularly language. Instead of speaking Arabic language, they adopted Tamil as their spoken language. Probably, Tamil was the language used widely in business and trade along the southern coast of India and northern coast of Sri Lanka during that time; they abandoned their own language for the matter of their trades. Hence, Muslims in Sri Lanka were not part of early Islamic society in the Arabian Peninsula, but developed in its own way under the different circumstances.

The community of Muslim traders was dramatically persecuted when the Portuguese took control over the Island in the sixteenth century. Many of them had to relocate from the southwest coast to the Central Highlands or the east coast, and still retained their religious identity separately from the other ethnic groups. The growing ethnic consciousness during the last two centuries resulted in the Islamic revivalism which appealed for their identity. The movement included an interest in the Arabic roots of the community as the basis of understanding the Qur'an and the separate schools for Muslim children. There emerged occasional agitation among Muslims against the government's attempts to regulate Muslim marriage and inheritance. So far, the conflict of Muslims and the other ethnic groups is still intractable.

Christianity in Sri Lanka

Christianity firstly came to Sri Lanka upon the arrival of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. Under their rule, Roman Catholicism was spread out in a mass scale of the Island with many Roman Catholic schools for the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The missionary activities ran well, especially among communities on the western coast of the island.

With the attempts of the Portuguese to Christianize native people, Buddhism and Hinduism were severely affected. There were an increasing number of both Sinhalese and Tamils converting to Roman Catholicism, perhaps on one reason of social mobility.

When the Portuguese was driven out by the Dutch, Protestantism and the Dutch Reformed Church was introduced, coming to the prominence particularly in Colombo than elsewhere.

During the British Rule, more conversions could be seen among minor minorities as well. Christian churches were than the normal sight throughout Sri Lanka. However, due to the nationalism movement among the Sinhalese who held sway the political power, Christianity in Sri Lanka was somewhat restricted.