$Unique_ID{COW03377}
$Pretitle{296}
$Title{Sri Lanka
Chapter 2C.   Religion}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Peter R. Blood}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{buddha
sri
lanka
god
sinhalese
buddhism
gods
monks
life
worship}
$Date{1990}
$Log{}
Country:     Sri Lanka
Book:        Sri Lanka, A Country Study
Author:      Peter R. Blood
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1990

Chapter 2C.   Religion

Buddhism

The Life and Message of the Buddha

     The founder of Buddhism was a man named Siddartha Gautama, a prince of
the Sakya clan in what is now Nepal during the sixth century B.C. Popular
stories of his life include many miraculous events: before his birth his
mother experienced visions that foretold his future greatness; when he was
born, he could immediately walk and talk; wise men who encountered the child
predicted that he would become either a great sage or a great emperor. Behind
these legends is the tale of a young man reared in luxury, who began to
question the meaning of life. At the age of thirty, he abandoned his home
(including his beautiful wife and child) and wandered throughout northeast
India as a beggar, searching for truth.

     Gautama studied under several religious teachers and became adept at
techniques of meditation and self-imposed austerity. Finally, he sat down
under a bo (pipal) tree and resolved not to move from that spot until he had
achieved perfect enlightenment. He entered into deeper and deeper
concentration, until he finally reached an understanding of the nature of
existence and the purpose of life. He thus became the one who knows, the
Buddha (from the verb budh, to know or understand). At first he debated
whether other beings would be able to comprehend the knowledge that he had
gained, but compassion moved him to bring his message to the world and lead
others to enlightment. He spent the next fifty years traveling throughout
northeast India, discussing his knowledge with all sorts of people. By the end
of his life, his message and example had attracted large numbers of converts,
from kings to beggars, from rich men to robbers. At his death around 483 B.C.,
he left behind a dedicated group of disciples who carried on his work.

     The Buddha summed up his message in Four Noble Truths that still form the
core of Buddhist belief. The first truth is that life is suffering (dukkha).
The material world, thoughts, emotions, and ideas are all transitory and do
not express or contain any eternal truths. All beings repeatedly experience
pain and loss as they pass through innumerable lives, never able to emerge
from a conditioned existence (samsara) created through their own
consciousness. The second truth describes the cause of suffering as attachment
to the world and the products of one's own consciousness. This attachment, or
craving for existence, causes beings to create mental views of the world and
believe they are correct, to form relationships with other beings, to struggle
and desire. Such efforts are in vain because none of these strategies allows
them to escape from their limited, suffering world. The third truth says that
the way to break the limiting trap of samsara is to stop attachment. Once one
has concentrated awareness so intensely that all material and spiritual
phenomena appear empty, without real substance, then existence becomes
liberated and suffering ceases. The fourth truth is the Noble Eightfold Path
of behavior, which roots out attachment and the conditioned view of the world
and leads toward the state of enlightenment (nibbana--nirvana, see Glossary)
gained by the Buddha. The true follower of the Buddha rejects the world,
becomes a full-time searcher after truth, and practices meditation that
concentrates awareness.

The Buddhist Community

     In the absence of the Buddha, the custodian of his message is the
assembly (sangha--see Glossary) of monks who carry on his work. The members of
the Buddhist assembly practice the discipline (vinaya) set forth by the Buddha
as a system of rules for a monastic order. The discipline calls for strict
control over the senses and dedicated meditation by the individual monk
(bhikku--see Glossary). Following the Buddha's example, the monk should spend
the morning begging for food from the lay community, then abstain from meals
after noon. He should shave his head, wear orange (or yellow) robes, and own
only his clothes and a begging bowl. He should avoid all sexual contact or any
other forms of sensual pleasure. The bhikku should rest in one place for an
extended period only during the rainy season, when groups of mendicants may
stay together in communal houses (vihara). Elaborate rules evolved for
admitting novices to the monastic community and conferring ordination on
bhikku who passed through a period of initiation and training. The strict
organization of the monastic order created a solid basis for the preservation
of the Buddha's message and a readily adaptable institution that was
transplanted in a variety of social environments throughout Asia.

     Buddhism in Sri Lanka has its roots deep in one of the earliest variants
of Buddhism that survives in the world today. The Sinhalese call their beliefs
Theravada, or "the doctrine of the elders." Their tradition, frequently
described as Hinayana (meaning "lesser vehicle"), preserves a clear
understanding of the Buddha as a man who achieved enlightenment and developed
monks (arhat) as accomplished followers of his teachings. This tradition
differs from the more widespread Mahayana ("great vehicle"), which often
treats the Buddha as a superhuman being and fills the universe with a pantheon
of enlightened figures (bodhisattvas) who help others achieve enlightenment.
In Sri Lanka, people do not officially worship the Buddha, but show reverence
to his memory. The most striking expressions of public reverence are dagoba or
thupa (stupa), large mounds built over sites where relics of the Buddha or a
great monk are buried. The dagoba in Sri Lanka preserve a spherical shape and
a style of architectural embellishment that link them directly to the
monuments originally erected over the Buddha's remains in ancient India. The
traditions of the Sinhalese indicate that their oldest dagoba are at least
2,000 years old, from a period when genuine relics of the Buddha came to Sri
Lanka. The conservative nature of Sinhalese Buddhism is strengthened through
the preservation and living tradition of ancient scriptures in the Pali (see
Glossary) language. A dialect related to Sanskrit, the classical language of
India, Pali is probably close to the popular language in northeastern India
during the Buddha's time. The monks of Sri Lanka have kept alive an unbroken
Pali transmission of monastic rules, stories of the Buddha's life, and
philosophical treatises that may constitute the oldest body of written
Buddhist traditions.

     For people who do not become monks, the most effective method of
progressing on the road to enlightenment is to accumulate merit (pin) through
moral actions. One who performs duties faithfully in this world, who supports
the monastic order, and who is compassionate to other living beings may hope
to achieve a higher birth in a future life, and from that position accumulate
sufficient merit and knowledge to achieve enlightenment. Meritorious
activities include social service, reverence of the Buddha at shrines or at
dagoba, and pilgrimage to sacred places. Gifts to monks rank among the most
beneficial merit- making activities. Lay devotees invite monks to major
events, such as a death in the family or the dedication of a building, and
publicly give them food and provisions. In return, the monks perform pirit,
the solemn recitation of Pali Buddhist scriptures. Although the average person
may not understand a word of the ancient language, simply hearing the words
and bestowing presents on the monks accumulates merit for the family or even
for deceased family members. Some wealthy donors may hold gift- giving
ceremonies simply for the public accumulation of merit. The monks thus perform
important roles for the laity at times of crisis or accomplishment, and they
serve as a focus for public philanthropy.

Popular Sinhalese Religion

     There is no central religious authority in Theravada Buddhism, and the
monastic community has divided into a number of orders with different styles
of discipline or recruitment. The broad outlines of the modern orders
originated in the eighteenth century. By that time, monastic personnel came
entirely from the upper levels of the Goyigama caste, and enjoyed easy lives
as recipients of income from monastic estates worked by lower castes. The
official line of monastic ordination had been broken, since monks at that time
no longer knew the Pali tradition. In 1753 the Kandyan king fulfilled his duty
as a protector of Buddhism by arranging for Theravada monks from Thailand to
ordain Sinhalese novices. These initiates set up a reformed sect known as the
Siyam Nikaya (the Siamese order), which invigorated the study and propagation
of the ancient Sinhalese heritage. The order remained a purely Goyigama
enclave. By the nineteenth century, members of rising low-country castes were
unhappy with Goyigama monopoly over the sangha, and rich merchants arranged
for Karava youths to receive ordination from Thai monks. These initiates
formed a new sect called the Amarapura Nikaya, that subsequently split along
caste lines. Disputes over doctrinal matters and the role of meditation led to
the establishment of another order, the Ramanna Nikaya, in the late nineteenth
century. In the 1980s, the Sinhalese sangha of 20,000 monks fell into three
major orders, subdivided into "families": the Siyam Nikaya contained six
divisions; the Amarapura Nikaya, twenty-three; and the Ramanna Nikaya, two.
Each family maintained its own line of ordination traced back to great
teachers and ultimately to the Buddha. Caste determined membership in many of
the sects.

     The members of the Buddhist monastic community preserve the doctrinal
purity of early Buddhism, but the lay community accepts a large body of other
beliefs and religious rituals that are tolerated by the monks and integrated
into Sinhalese religion. Many of the features of this popular religion come
from Hinduism and from very old traditions of gods and demons. Sinhalese
Buddhism is thus a syncretic fusion of various religious elements into a
unique cultural system.

     There is a thin boundary between reverence for the Buddha's memory and
worship of the Buddha as a god, and the unsophisticated layperson often
crosses this line by worshiping him as a transcendent divine being. The relics
of the Buddha, for example, have miraculous powers; the literature and
folklore of the Sinhalese are full of tales recounting the amazing events
surrounding relics. During the construction of a Buddha image, the painting of
the eyes is an especially important moment when the image becomes "alive"
with power. At the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, where the Buddha's Tooth
Relic is enshrined, rituals include elements from Hindu temple worship, such
as feeding and clothing of the Buddha (see Hinduism, this ch.). In general,
devotees believe that the Buddha's enlightenment makes him an all-powerful
being, able to control time and space and all other supernatural beings.

     The Buddha is so pure and powerful that he does not intervene personally
in the affairs of the world. That is the job of a pantheon of gods (deva) and
demons (yakka) who control material and spiritual events. The Buddha never
denied the existence of the gods or demons, but said that attention to these
matters simply detracts from concentration on the path to enlightenment. The
Sinhalese believe that the all-powerful Buddha has given a warrant (varan) to
a variety of spiritual entities that allows them to regulate reality within
set boundaries (sima). For help in matters of everyday life, the Sinhalese
petition these spiritual entities rather than the Buddha. Near many dagoba, or
shrines of the Buddha, there are separate shrines (devale) for powerful
deities. After reverencing the Buddha, devotees present prayers and petitions
to the gods for help with daily life. The shrines for the gods have their own
priests (kapurala), who practice special rituals of purification that allow
them to present offerings of food, flowers, or clothing to the gods.
Propitiation of demons occurs far away from Buddhist shrines and involves
special rituals featuring the assistance of exorcists.

     The popularity of different deities changes over time, as people come to
see particular deities as more effective in solving their problems. The
principal gods include Vishnu (also a Hindu god, identified by Buddhists as a
bodhisattva, or "enlightened being," who helps others attain enlightenment),
Natha, Vibhisana, Saman (the god of Adams Peak and its vicinity), and the
goddess Pattini (originally an ordinary woman whose devotion to her husband,
immortalized in poetry, elevated her to divine rank). During the twentieth
century, the god Vibhisana has declined in popularity while the god
Kataragama, named after his hometown in Moneragala District, has become
extremely powerful. The annual Kataragama festival brings tens of thousands of
worshipers to his small town, including Hindus who worship him as a
manifestation of the god Murugan and Muslims who worship at the mosque there.
This common devotion to sacred sites and sacred persons is one of the most
important features of popular religion in Sri Lanka.

     Another example of this religious syncretism is the cult of Sri Lanka's
leading oracle, Gale Bandara Deviyo, who originally was a Muslim prince slain
by the Sinhalese to prevent his accession to the throne. He is revered by
Buddhists and Muslims alike at his shrine in the town of Kurunegala (in
Kurunegala District). As transportation and communication facilities have
expanded in modern Sri Lanka, there has been a big expansion of major
pilgrimage sites that are jointly patronized by Sinhalese, Tamils, and
Muslims, thus providing a commonality that may lead to closer cultural
cooperation among competing ethnic groups.

Buddhism and Politics

     Buddhism plays an eminent political role in Sri Lanka and serves as a
unifying force for the Sinhalese majority . Although the monks must renounce
worldliness, they of necessity maintain close relationships with the lay
community, whose members must supply them with food, shelter, and clothing.
During the past century, as Sinhalese nationalism fueled lay devotion to
Buddhism, there was a proliferation of lay support organizations, such as the
All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress, the Colombo Buddhist Theosophical Society, the
All-Ceylon Buddhist Women's Association, and the Young Men's Buddhist
Association. The state has similarly retained close ties with the sangha (see
Glossary). Since the time of Asoka, the first great Indian emperor (third
century B.C.), the head of state has been seen by Buddhist thinkers as the
official protector of Buddhism, the "turner of the wheel of the law" (see
Historical Perspective, 1802-1978, ch. 4). One of the recurring problems in
the history of Sri Lanka has been a definition of the state as the official
supporter of Buddhism, which in turn has been the religion of the ethnic
Sinhalese. To be successful among the Sinhalese, a government must provide
visible signs of its allegiance to the sangha by building or maintaining
dagoba, judging disputes among the orders of monks, and fostering education in
the Pali Buddhist tradition.

     Individual monks and entire sects have involved themselves in party
politics, but seldom do all families and orders unite behind a coherent
policy. When they do unite, they are a potent political force. In 1956, for
example, a rare union of monastic opinion gave crucial support to the election
of the Sinhalese political leader Solomon West Ridgeway Diaz (S.W.R.D.)
Bandaranaike (see Sri Lanka Freedom Party Rule, 1956-65, ch. 1). As of 1988,
the sangha controlled extensive estates in the interior of Sri Lanka and
retained an independent power base that, combined with high status in the eyes
of the Sinhalese population, gave the Buddhist orders influence as molders of
public opinion. Monks remained prominent at rallies and demonstrations
promoting ethnic Sinhalese issues.

Hinduism

     Whereas Buddhism claims a historical founder, a basic doctrine, and a
formal monastic structure, Hinduism embraces a vast and varied body of
religious belief, practice, and organization. In its widest sense, Hinduism
encompasses all the religious and cultural systems originating in South Asia,
and many Hindus actually accept the Buddha as an important sectarian teacher
or as a rebel against or reformer of ancient Hindu culture. The medieval Arabs
first used the term Hindu to describe the entire cultural complex east of the
Sindhu, or Indus, River (in contemporary Pakistan). Hindu beliefs and
practices in different regions claim descent from common textual sources,
while retaining their regional individuality. In Sri Lanka, Hinduism is
closely related to the distinctive cultural systems of neighboring Tamil Nadu.

     Classical Hinduism includes as a central tenet of belief the concept of
nonviolence (ahimsa), a concept that was of great importance to the Buddha and
to such reformers as Mahatma Gandhi some 2,500 years later. Veneration of pure
life, especially of the cow, has come to be intimately associated with
orthodox Hinduism of all sects. The cow is regarded as, among other things,
the sacred embodiment of motherhood and fruitfulness. The deliberate killing
of a cow is scarcely less terrible than the killing of a Brahman. For the
miscreant it results in immediate and irrevocable outcasting; even the
accidental killing of a cow requires elaborate purification ceremonies.

     The earliest and most sacred sources of Hinduism are the Vedas, a
compilation of hymns originating in northern India around 1,500 B.C. They are
the oldest surviving body of literature in South Asia, created by the culture
of the Arya (the "noble" or "pure" ones) in northwest India. Composed in
an archaic form of the Sanskrit language, the Vedas were sung by a caste of
priests (Brahmans) during sacrifices for the ancient gods. Families of
Brahmans have passed down the oral recitation of these hymns for thousands of
years, and Brahman claims to high status ultimately rest on their association
with Vedic hymns. The vast majority of Hindus know almost nothing of Sanskrit
or the Vedas, but even in the late twentieth century Brahmans frequently
officiate at important ceremonies such as weddings, reciting ancient hymns and
making offerings into sacred flames.

     By the time of the Buddha, intellectual speculations gave rise to
philosophical concepts that still influence all of South Asia. These
speculations became books called Upanishads, originally written as
commentaries on the Vedas but later viewed as sacred works in their own right.
The Upanishads discuss brahman, an impersonal, eternal force that embodies all
good and all knowledge. The individual "soul," or atman, partakes of the
same qualities as brahman but remains immersed in ignorance. Action
(karma--see Glossary) is the cause of its ignorance; reason continually
searches for meaning in the material world and in its own mental creations,
instead of concentrating on brahman, the one true reality. The individual
soul, immersed in action, migrates from life to life, until it achieves
identity with brahman and is released. There is a close relationship between
the Buddha's understanding of suffering and enlightenment, and the ideas of
atman, karma, and brahman that became basic to Hindu philosophy. The Buddha,
however, claimed that even the idea of the soul was a mental construct of no
value, whereas Hindu thought has generally preserved a belief in the soul.

     As India became a major center of civilization with extensive political
and economic systems, Hinduism became associated with new visions of the gods
and worship in temples. Tamil Nadu was a major center of this transformation.
By about A.D. 1000, the Tamils had reworked Brahmanical culture into a
southern Indian type of devotional (bhakti) religion. This religion claimed to
be based on the Vedas and the philosophy of the Upanishads, but its roots lay
just as deep in strong attachments to local deities and a desire for salvation
(moksha) through their intercession.

     Several gods predominate in the many myths, legends, and styles of
worship. One of the main Hindu gods is Vishnu, often represented as a divine
king accompanied by his beautiful wife, Lakshmi, the bestower of wealth and
good fortune. Besides presiding as a divine monarch, Vishnu periodically
descends to earth, assuming a physical form to help beings attain salvation.
Vishnu has ten main incarnations, two of which--Rama and Krishna- -are
particularly popular. Rama was a great hero, whose exploits in rescuing his
wife from the demon king of Lanka are recounted in the epic Ramayana. Vishnu's
most popular incarnation is Krishna, who combines in a single divine figure
the mythic episodes of a warrior prince and a rustic cowherd god. As warrior,
Krishna figures prominently in what is perhaps the single most important Hindu
text, the Bhagavad Gita, where he stresses the importance of doing one's duty
and devotion to god. As divine cowherd, Krishna served as an inspiration for a
vast body of religious poetry in Sanskrit and the regional South Asian
languages. From the eighth to the twelfth centuries, Tamil devotees of Vishnu
(alvars) composed poetry in praise of the god. These Tamil poems, collected in
anthologies, are still recited during worship and festivals for Vishnu.

     The second major Hindu deity, and by far the most important god among the
Tamils in Sri Lanka, is Siva. He differs considerably from Vishnu. In many
stories he reigns as a king, but often he appears as a religious ascetic,
smeared with ashes, sitting on a tiger skin in the jungle, with a snake around
his neck. He is the lord of animals. Although he is an ascetic, he is also a
sexual figure, married to the beautiful Parvati (the daughter of the
mountain), and his image is often a single rock shaped like a phallus
(lingam). He is often a distant figure whose power is destructive, but
paradoxically he is a henpecked husband who has to deal with family squabbles
involving his sons. His devotees enjoy retelling his myths, but worshipers
visualize him as a cosmic creator who will save his creatures when they have
abandoned themselves totally to his love. One of the most powerful expressions
of his creative role is the image of Nataraja, "Lord of the Dance," who
gracefully manifests the rhythm of the universe. Great Tamil devotees
(nayanmar) of the early middle ages created a large collection of poems
dedicated to Siva and his holiest shrines. These collections are still revered
among the Tamils as sacred scriptures on the same plane as the Vedas.

     Female deities are very important among the Hindu Tamils. At temples for
Siva or Vishnu there are separate shrines for the god and for his consort, and
in many cases the shrine for the goddess (amman) receives much more attention
from worshipers. Hindu philosophy interprets the goddess as the Shakti, or
cosmic energy, of the god in the world and therefore the most immediate
creative or destructive force, to be thanked or placated. Many of the
manifestations of the goddess are capricious or violent, and she is often seen
as a warrior who destroys demons on her own or whom Siva himself has to defeat
in combat. As Mariamman, she used to bring smallpox, and she is still held
responsible for diseases of the hot season.

     In addition to the main gods, there are a number of subordinate divine
beings, who are often the most popular deities. Ganesha, or Pillaiyar or
Ganapati, the elephant-headed son of Siva and Parvati, is the patron of good
fortune and is worshiped at the beginning of a religious service or a new
venture, such as a business deal or even a short trip. Murugan, his brother,
is a handsome young warrior who carries a spear and rides a peacock. He is
worshiped near hills or mountains, and his devotees are known for fierce vows
and austerity that may include self- mutilation. Every village has its own
protective deities, often symbolized as warriors, who may have their own local
stories and saints.

     Worship of the gods is known as puja. Worship can occur mentally or in
front of the most rudimentary representations, such as stones or trees. Most
people assemble pictures or small statues of their favorite deities and create
small shrines in their homes for daily services, and they make trips to local
shrines to worship before larger and more ornate statues. Public temples
(kovil) consist of a central shrine containing images of the gods, with a
surrounding courtyard and an enclosing wall entered through ornately carved
towers (gopuram). During worship, the images become the gods after special
rituals are performed. Worshipers then offer them presents of food, clothing,
and flowers as they would honored guests. The gifts are sanctified through
contact with the gods, and worshipers may eat the sacred food or smear
themselves with sacred ash in order to absorb the god's grace. In public
temples, only consecrated priests (pujari) are allowed into the sanctum
housing the god's image, and worshipers hand offerings to the priests for
presentation to the god. Most of the time, worship of the gods is not
congregational, but involves offerings by individuals or small family groups
at home or through temple priests. During major festivals, however, hundreds
or thousands of people may come together in noisy, packed crowds to worship at
temples or to witness processions of the gods through public streets.

Islam

     The religion of Islam began, like Buddhism, with the experience of a
single man, but the religious environment of early Islam was the
Judeo-Christian world of Arabia. Many of the basic premises and beliefs of
Islam are thus quite different than those of Buddhism or Hinduism and more
closely resemble the systems of Judaism or Christianity. During the last 1,000
years, however, Islam has played a major part in the cultures of South and
Southeast Asia, including Sri Lanka. Islam in Sri Lanka has preserved the
doctrines derived from Arabia, while adapting to the social environment of
South Asia.

     During the early seventh century A.D., Muhammad experienced a series of
messages from God in the city of Mecca, a trading center in western Arabia. He
became a prophet, one of the line of Biblical prophets including Abraham,
Moses, and Jesus Christ (in Arabic, Ibrahim, Musa, and Isa), and he conveyed
to the people of Mecca the last and greatest of the revelations given by God
to the world. The message was simple and powerful: "submission" (Islam) to
the mercy of a single, all-powerful God (Allah). God exists for eternity, but
out of love he created the world and mankind, endowing both men and women with
immortal souls. Human beings have only one life, and when it ends their souls
go to either heaven or hell according to their behavior on earth. Correct
behavior is known through the revelation of prophets inspired by God, and
Muhammad is the last of these prophets. To believe in Islam, to become "one
who submits" (a Muslim), one must accept the will of the one true God and the
message of Muhammad, which is encapsulated in the shahada: "There is no God
but God, and Muhammad is His Prophet." His message is immortalized in the
Quran, a series of revelations conveyed by the angel Gabriel, and in the
hadith, the sayings and example of the prophet Muhammad.

     Muhammad described some of the most important actions necessary for a
believer who wished to submit to God's love and will. In addition to
commandments against lying, stealing, killing and other crimes, the moral code
includes prayer five times daily, fasting, giving alms to the poor, pilgrimage
to Mecca if financially possible, abstention from gambling and wine, and
dietary restrictions similar to those of Judaism. The Prophet linked behavior
to salvation so closely that bodies of Islamic law (sharia) grew up in order
to interpret all human activity according to the spirit of the Quran. In
practice, to be a Muslim requires not simply a belief in God and in Muhammad's
status as the final prophet, but acceptance of the rules of Islamic law and
following them in one's own life. Islam thus encompasses a rich theology and
moral system, and it also includes a distinctive body of laws and customs that
distinguish Muslims from followers of other faiths. Islam is theoretically a
democratic union of all believers without priests, but in practice scholars
(ulama) learned in Islamic law interpret the Quran according to local
conditions, legal officials (qazi) regulate Muslim life according to Islamic
law, and local prayer leaders coordinate group recitation of prayers in
mosques (masjid, or palli).

     By the fifteenth century, Arab traders dominated the trade routes through
the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. Some of them settled down along the
coasts of India and Sri Lanka, married local women, and spoke Arabized Tamil
rather than pure Arabic. Their families followed Islam and preserved the basic
doctrines and Islamic law, while also adopting some local social customs (such
as matrilineal and matrilocal families) that were not part of early Islamic
society in the Arabian Peninsula. When the Portuguese took control in the
sixteenth century, they persecuted the Muslim traders of the southwest coast,
and many Muslims had to relocate in the Central Highlands or on the east coast
(see European Encroachment and Dominance, 1500-1948, ch. 1). They retained
their separate religious identity, but also adopted some aspects of popular
religion. For example, pilgrimage sites, such as Kataragama, may be the same
for Muslims as for Hindus or Buddhists, although Muslims will worship at
mosques rather than reverence the Buddha or worship Hindu gods (see Buddhism,
this ch.).

     The growth in ethnic consciousness during the last two centuries has
affected the Muslim community of Sri Lanka. Muslim revivalism has included an
interest in the Arabic roots of the community, increased emphasis on the study
of Arabic as the basis for understanding the Quran, and an emphasis on
separate schools for Muslim children. Whether there should be an independent
Islamic law for Muslims, preserving the distinct moral culture passed down
from Muhammad, is a continuing issue. On a number of occasions, agitation has
developed over attempts by the Sri Lankan government to regulate Muslim
marriage and inheritance. In order to prevent further alienation of the Muslim
community, in the 1980s the government handled its dealings with Muslims
through a Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs Department.

Christianity

     According to Christian traditions, the Apostle Thomas was active in Sri
Lanka as well as southern India during the first century A.D. Small Christian
communities existed on the coasts of Sri Lanka during the succeeding
centuries, flourishing on the edges of the Indian Ocean trade routes as Islam
did in later times. Christianity made significant inroads only after the
fifteenth century, as aggressive Portuguese missionary efforts led to many
conversions, especially among the Karava and other low-country castes. When
the Dutch took control of Sri Lanka, they encouraged their own missionaries of
the Dutch Reformed Church. Under their patronage, 21 percent of the population
in the low country was officially Christian by 1722. The British, in turn,
allowed Anglican and other Protestant missionaries to proselytize.

     The relative number of Christians in Sri Lanka has declined steadily
since the end of colonial rule. In 1900 a reported 378,859 people, or 10.6
percent of the population, were officially Christians. Although in 1980, the
number of Christians had increased to 1,283,600, the percentage of Christians
in the total population had declined to approximately 8 percent. This decline
occurred primarily because the non-Christian population expanded at a faster
rate. Emigration abroad, conversions of some Christians to Buddhism and fewer
conversions to Christianity among Buddhists, Hindus, or Muslims also were
reasons for the decline. In the 1980s, Christians still were concentrated
heavily in the low country in the southwest. They comprised 30 percent of the
population in Colombo.

     Some 88 percent of the Christians were Roman Catholics who traced their
religious heritage directly to the Portuguese. The Roman Catholic Church has a
well-established organization that encompasses the entire island. In 1985
there were 9 dioceses comprising 313 parishes, 682 priests, and 15 bishops
(including two archbishops and a cardinal). The remainder of Christians were
almost evenly split between the Anglican Church of Ceylon (with two dioceses)
and other Protestant faiths. The Dutch Reformed Church, now the Presbytery of
Ceylon, consisted mostly of Burghers, and its numbers were shrinking because
of emigration. Other Christian communities--Congregationalists, Methodists,
and Baptists--were small in number. Since the 1970s, there has been a movement
of all Protestant Churches to join together in a united Church of Sri Lanka.
The Sinhalese community, however, has strenuously opposed this movement.