 Hindu temple festival in Colombo in 1900s. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2,561,299 (2012)[1] 12.6% of its total population | |
| Religions | |
| Hinduism Shaivism (majority) Vaishnavism and Shaktism (minority) | |
| Scriptures | |
| Ramayana and Vedas | |
| Languages | |
| Old Tamil and Sanskrit (sacred) Tamil (majority) and Sinhala (minority) |
| Hinduism by country |
|---|
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| Full list |
Hinduism is one of Sri Lanka's oldest religions, with temples dating back over 2,000 years.[2] As of 2011[update], Hindus made up 12.6% of the Sri Lankan population.[3] They are almost exclusively Tamils, except for small immigrant communities from India and Pakistan (including the Sindhis, Telugus and Malayalis).
According to the 1915 census, Hindus made up about 25% of the Sri Lankan population (including indentured labourers brought by the British).[4] Hinduism predominates in the Northern and Eastern Provinces (where Tamils remain the largest demographic), the central regions and Colombo, the capital. According to the 2011 census, there are 2,554,606 Hindus in Sri Lanka (12.6% of the country's population). During the Sri Lankan Civil War, many Tamils emigrated; Hindu temples, built by the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, maintain their religion, tradition, and culture.[5][6]
Most Sri Lankan Hindus follow the Shaiva Siddhanta school of Shaivism, and some follow Shaktism. Sri Lanka is home to the five abodes of Shiva: Pancha Ishwarams, holy places believed to have been built by King Ravana. Murugan is one of the country's most popular Hindu deities, venerated by Hindu Tamils. The Buddhist Sinhalese and Aboriginal Veddas venerate the local rendition of the deity, Katharagama deviyo.[7][8]
Yogaswami of Jaffna is a significant modern Hindu religious figure in Sri Lankan history. A 20th-century mystic, he was the Satguru and counselling sage of the country's Tamil Hindu population. The Ramakrishna Mission is active in the Amparai and Batticaloa districts, and the Shaiva Siddhanta school is prevalent in the north.[9] Yogaswami was the 161st head of the Nandinatha Sampradaya, and was succeeded by Sivaya Subramuniyaswami.[10]
- ^ "Population by religion and district, Census 1981, 2001, 2012" (PDF). Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
- ^ "Buddhism in Sri Lanka: A Short History". www.accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
- ^ "Census of Population and Housing, 2011". Sri Lanka: Department of Census and Statistics. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
- ^ "During Mahinda Rajapaksa's India visit, New Delhi likely to raise Sri Lankan Hindu Tamil's issues". The Indian Express. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
- ^ Bradley, Mark (2018). "Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus and other Tamis in the Montréal diaspora".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Success story of a 'victim diaspora'". The Hindu. 28 December 2019. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
- ^ Goonasekera, Sunil (2007). Walking to Kataragama. International Centre for Ethnic Studies. p. 520. ISBN 978-955-580-110-2.
- ^ Obeyesekere, Gananath (1977). "Social Change and the Deities: Rise of the Kataragama Cult in Modern Sri Lanka". Man. 12 (3/4): 377–396. doi:10.2307/2800544. ISSN 0025-1496. JSTOR 2800544.
- ^ Lion of Lanka. Himalayan Academy. p. 816.
- ^ "Shivaya Subramaniam". Himalayan Academy.