Hinduism in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan Hindus
 Sri Lanka
Total population
2,561,299 (2012)
12.6% of country population
Religions
Hinduism

Hinduism is a one of the minority religion in Sri Lanka and is second most followed religion after Theravada Buddhism.[1] Hinduism is followed by nearly 12.6% of total population as of 2012.[2] Most of them are Tamils.[3]

Practise

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 built by King Ravana. Murugan is one of the country's most popular Hindu deities, venerated by Hindu Tamils also the Buddhist Sinhalese and Aboriginal Veddas venerate the local rendition of the deity, Katharagama deviyo.[4][5]

Demography

S. No. District Total pop. Hindus pop. Hindus (%)
1. Colombo 2,324,349 274,087 11.79%
2. Gampaha 2,304,833 112,746 4.89%
3. Kalutara 1,221,948 114,556 9.37%
4. Kandy 1,375,382 197,076 14.32%
5. Matale 484,531 45,682 9.42%
Total 20,359,439 2,561,299 12.6%
Source: [6]

References

  1. ↑ "Buddhism in Sri Lanka: A Short History". www.accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  2. ↑ "Census of Population and Housing 2011". www.statistics.gov.lk. Archived from the original on 2018-12-24. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  3. ↑ Bradley, Mark (2018). "Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus and other Tamis in the Montréal diaspora". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ↑ Goonasekera, Sunil (2007). Walking to Kataragama. International Centre for Ethnic Studies. p. 250. ISBN 978-955-580-110-2.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ "Census of Population and Housing, Sri Lanka (2012)" (PDF). Government of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Demographics department. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-29. Retrieved 2021-06-17.