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Sri Lanka 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.
Data as of October 1988
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