Sri Lanka is the spiritual heartland of Theravada Buddhism, and also plays host to three of the world’s other major religions.

Religion plays a crucial role in Sri Lankan life, irrespective of race and creed. Central to the island’s religious life is Buddhism, the faith of the vast majority of the country’s Sinhalese. Hinduism is the main religion of the Sri Lankan Tamils, though significant number of Sri Lankan’s are now Christians. The fourth of the island’s faiths is Islam, which is practiced by the Muslims living in the island.

The presence of four such diverse religions squeezed gracefully together in such

geographical proximity has, perhaps inevitably, resulted in a significant unique blurring of boundaries. Hindu deities are commonly found in Buddhist temples, while Hindu reciprocates by declaring Buddha to be an avatar or incarnation of Vishnu. Many of Buddhist temples hold Hindu shrines and Catholic churches are visited by deities of all the faiths due to believes spread by close neighbors and friends.

Followers of all four religions visit one another’s festivals and pilgrimage places, a state of cheerful cohabitation summed up by the revered pilgrimage town of Kataragama, where a Hindu temple, Buddhist stupa and mosque sit side by side. The sacred mountain of Adam’s Peak, whose mysterious “footprint” has been claimed in turn by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians, to be that of either Buddha, Siva, Adam and St Thomas.

BUDDHISM

Buddhism is central to the life and beliefs of the island’s Sinhalese. More than even a religion, Buddhism as given the Sinhalese a sense of national identity and a view of the island as the “chosen land” of Buddhism. This belief stems principally from a blessing which the Buddha himself is said, on his deathbed, to have pronounced on the island. In addition, the island was one of the first places converted to the new faith, meaning that, since the religion has now virtually disappeared from India, Sri Lanka has the distinction of being one of the world’s oldest Buddhist countries, as well as preserving the faith in its pure original form. The Sri Lanka form of Buddhism is referred to as the Theravada tradition.

It was also in Sri Lanka, at Aluvihara, that the most important Theravada texts, the Tripitaka, were first written down. In addition the Tooth Relic housed in the temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy is perhaps the world’s most venerated Buddhist relic.

BUDDHISM IN SRI LANKA

Buddhism arrived in Sri Lanka, in 247 BC, when the missionary Mahinda, was

sent to the island by the great Indian Buddhist emperor Ashoka, converted the then King of Anuradhapura, Devanampiya Tissam and his followers. Buddhism quickly established itself as the state religion, changing the cultural landscape of the island.

Buddhism and the state remained closely linked throughout the Anuradhapura period. The City’s kings were seen as upholders of the faith, judged by their piety and commitment to raising great monasteries and other religious edifices – the origins of the great sequence of monasteries and stupas which still dominate the ruined citadel city. The successful network of irrigation works constructed by the city’s rulers also provided an agricultural surplus which allowed it to support an enormous community of monks, giving the early city the character of being governed by the Buddhist way of life.

Buddhism gradually disappeared from India by continued as the pre-eminent religion in Sri Lanka, despite repeated Tamil incursions and growing influence of Hinduism during the Polonnaruwa period. As the state religion, Buddhism suffered following the collapse of Sinhalese power in the north, with the island’s increasingly reduction of power, king’s no longer able t to support the huge monasteries of previous eras. The religion further suffered with the arrival of Europeans and missionary Christianity from the 16^th century onwards, while the throne of Kandy passed into Tamil hands, leading from further Hindu influence on Sinhalese affairs.

The Lowest point arrived in 1753, when it was discovered that there were not enough monks left to ordain any new clergy. On the point of disappearing, the king of Kandy sent to Thailand for monks, who duly arrived and ordained a new set of monks, the first members of the Siyam Nikaya or the Siam Order, an exclusive Buddhist sect which survives to this day.

DAILY BUDDHIST RITUALS AND BELIEF

Unlike Islam and Christianity, Buddhism is merely a philosophy and has no

organized form of worship – devotees simply visit their temple whenever they wish, to pray, mediate and make offerings of flowers, fragrant incense, and foods, or to light oil lamps. Temples are busiest on Poya (Full-moon) days, which are traditionally regarded as particularly important and when more devout Buddhists will observe Sil, which is to practice 8 or 10 noble teachings/precepts as appose to the daily 5 precepts they are expected to observe.

On special occasions, some devotees may arrange for the chanting of Buddhist scriptures by monks, a practice known as pirith, and the nearest Buddhist equivalent to the tradition are the Hindu pujas.

OTHER RELIGIONS IN SRI LANKA

Unlike Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, Christianity is the one religion in Sri Lank which crosses ethnic lines, at least to a small degree.

According to local tradition, Christianity was first brought to Sri Lanka by St Thomas, one of the original disciples, who is believed to have introduced the religion to India, where he was martyred (at Mylapore, in modern Chennai). According to local Christian tradition, it is his foot print, rather than the Buddha’s, which is imprinted into the rock at the summit of Adam’s Peak.

The peaceful coexistence of religious diversity and steep history of all the religions make Sri Lanka a heaven for some of the most sort after Religious Pilgrimage Tours in the World. Target Travels Sri Lanka, offer a range of individual as well as combination religious pilgrimage tours that are completely customized to traveler’s requirements. For more information on our Sri Lankan Pilgrimage Tours contact our Target Travels representative on travel@ranfertravels.lk