Hinduism in Southeast Asia
Encyclopedia
Hinduism in Southeast Asia gave birth to the former Champa
civilization in southern parts of Central Vietnam
, Funan in Cambodia
, the Khmer Empire
in Indochina
, Langkasuka Kingdom
, Gangga Negara
and Old Kedah in the Malay Peninsular, the Srivijayan kingdom on Sumatra
, the Singhasari
kingdom and the Majapahit Empire
based in Java, Bali
, and the Philippine
archipelago. The civilization of India
influenced the languages, scripts, calendars, and artistic aspects of these peoples and nations.
Prominent Hindus (e.g., Swami Sadananda Maharaj) from India have visited South East Asia for the purpose of exploring the Hinduism of these places.
kingdom in Java and Sumatra
around 200 BC
. Southeast Asia was frequented by traders from eastern India, particularly Magadha
, as well as from the kingdoms
of South India
.
The Taruma kingdom occupied West Java around 400
. There was a marked Buddhist
influence starting about 425
.
These seafaring peoples engaged in extensive trade, which attracted the attention of the Mongols
, Chinese
and Japan
ese, as well as Islamic traders, who reached the Aceh area of Sumatra
in the 12th century.
Some scholars have pointed out that the legends of Ikshvaku
and Sumati may have their origin in the Southeast-Asian myth of the birth of humanity from a bitter gourd. The word Ikshvaku means "bitter gourd". The legend of Sumati, the wife of King Sagar, tells that she produced offspring with the aid of a bitter gourd.
, Thailand
, Indonesia
(as in Java, Bali
, Sulawesi
and Kalimantan
) (for details, see Agama Hindu Dharma), and the Philippines
mainly due to presence of Indians. One notably Southeast Asian aspect of Hinduism is the festival of Thaipusam
.
The resurgence of Hinduism in Indonesia is occurring in all parts of the country. In the early seventies, the Toraja
people of Sulawesi
were the first to be identified under the umbrella of 'Hinduism', followed by the Karo Batak of Sumatra in 1977 and the Ngaju Dayak of Kalimantan in 1980. In an unpublished report in 1999, the National Indonesian Bureau of Statistics admitted that around 100,00
se had officially converted or 'reconverted' from Islam to Hinduism over the previous two decades.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs, as of 2007 estimates there to be at least 10 million Hindus in Indonesia
The growth of Hinduism has been driven also by the famous Javanese prophesies of Sabdapalon
and Jayabaya.
Many recent converts to Hinduism had been members of the families of Sukarno
's PNI, and now support Megawati Sukarnoputri
. This return to the 'religion of Majapahit' (Hinduism) is a matter of nationalist pride.
The new Hindu communities in Java tend to be concentrated around recently built temples (pura) or around archaeological temple sites (candi) which are being reclaimed as places of Hindu worship. An important new Hindu temple in eastern Java is Pura Mandaragiri Sumeru Agung, located on the slope of Mt. Semeru
, Java's highest mountain. Mass conversions have also occurred in the region around Pura Agung Blambangan, another new temple, built on a site with minor archaeological remnants attributed to the kingdom of Blambangan, the last Hindu polity on Java, and Pura Loka Moksa Jayabaya (in the village of Menang near Kediri), where the Hindu king and prophet Jayabaya is said to have achieved spiritual liberation (moksa
). Another site is the new Pura Pucak Raung in East Java, which is mentioned in Balinese literature as the place from where Maharishi Markandeya took Hinduism to Bali in the 5th century AD.
An example of resurgence around major archaeological remains of ancient Hindu temple sites was observed in Trowulan near Mojokerto, the capital of the legendary Hindu empire Majapahit. A local Hindu movement is struggling to gain control of a newly excavated temple building which they wish to see restored as a site of active Hindu worship. The temple is to be dedicated to Gajah Mada, the man attributed with transforming the small Hindu kingdom of Majapahit into an empire. Although there has been a more pronounced history of resistance to Islamization in East Java, Hindu communities are also expanding in Central Java near the ancient Hindu monuments of Prambanan.
The current estimates of Hinduism in Indonesia range from 4 to 8 percent
. Because a reliable census has not been taken in Burma since colonial times, the given figures are rough estimates. Despite its minority designation today, Hinduism has been greatly influential in Burmese history and literature. Hinduism, along with Buddhism, greatly influenced the royal court of Burmese kings in pre-colonial times, as seen in the architecture of cities such as Bagan
. Likewise, the Burmese language
contains many loanwords from Sanskrit
and Pali
, many of which relate to religion. Several aspects of Hinduism can be found in Burma today. In nat worship
, which is practised by the dominant Bamar
ethnic group, Burmese adaptations of Hindu gods are worshipped. For example, the king of the nats, Thagyamin, is identified with the Hindu god Indra
. Burmese literature has also been enriched by Hinduism, including the Burmese adaptation of the Ramayana, called Yama Zatdaw
. Many Hindu gods are likewise worshipped by Burmese Buddhists, including Saraswati
(known as Thuyathadi in Burmese
), the goddess of knowledge, who is often worshipped before examinations.
According to the Myanmar government, the distribution of Hindus there is as follows:
Cambodia
was first influenced by Hinduism during the beginning of the Funan kingdom. Hinduism was one of the Khmer Empire
's official religions. Cambodia is the home to one of the only two temples dedicated to Brahma
in the world. Angkor Wat
of Cambodia is the largest Hindu temple in the world.
.
, who sailed in behalf of Spain
1521, the chiefs of many Philippine islands were called Raja
s, and the script was derived from Brahmi
. Karma
, a Hindu concept is understood as part of the traditional view of the universe by many Philippine peoples, and have counterparts such as kalma in the Pampangan language, and Gabâ
in the Cebuano language
. The vocabulary in all Philippine languages reflect strong Hindu influences.
In the archipelago that was to become the Philippines, the statues of the Hindu gods were hidden to prevent their destruction by a religion which destroyed all cult image
s. One statue, a "Golden Tara", a 4-pound gold statue of a Hindu-Malayan goddess, was found in Mindanao
in 1917. The statue, denoted the Agusan Image, is now in the Field Museum of Natural History
, Chicago
. The image is that of a Hindu-Malayan female deity, seated cross-legged. It is made of "twenty-one carat gold and weighs nearly four pounds." It has a richly ornamented headdress and many ornaments in the arms and other parts of the body. Scholars date it to the late 13th or early 14th century. It was made by local artists, perhaps copying from an imported Javanese model. The gold was used from this area, since Javanese miners were known to have been engaged in gold mining in Butuan at this time.
The existence of these gold mines, this artefact and the presence of "foreigners" permit us to surmise on the existence of some foreign trade, gold as element in the barter economy, and of cultural and social contact between the natives and "foreigners." As previously stated, his statue is not housed in The Philippines. Prof. Beyer in 1918 tried to get the government to buy it for the National Museum, but as the bullion exceeded 4,000 pesos (at the old rate), funds were not available. Mrs. Leonard Wood (whose husband was military-governor of the Moro Province in 1903-1906 and governor general in 1921-1927) raised funds for its purchase by the Chicago Museum of Natural History. It is now on display in that museum's Gold Room.
According to Prof. Beyer, considered the "Father of Philippine Anthropology and Archaeology", a woman in 1917 found it on the left bank of the Wawa River near Esperanza, Agusan, projecting from the silt in a ravine after a storm and flood. From her hands it passed into those of Bias Baklagon, a local government official. Shortly after, ownership passed to the Agusan Coconut Company, to whom Baklagon owed a considerable debt. Mrs. Leonard Wood bought it from the coconut company..."
Another gold artifact of Garuda
, the phoenix
who is the mount of Vishnu
was found in Palawan
.
Today, there is a Hindu temple at Mahatma Gandhi Street on U N avenue in Paco area, Manila, Metro Manila
and about 15 minutes away, there is a Sikh
temple at U.N. Avenue and as per estimate there is 22 gurudwaras in all over Philippines today. Although most of the adherents are India
ns, Sri Lanka
ns and Nepal
ese. There are various Hare Krishna
groups that are gaining in popularity. Indians have been in the Philippines even before the Spaniards but blend into society and tend to maintain a low profile.
Hinduism was deterred by the spread of Christianity by the Spaniards and the spread of Islam by Malay and Javanese missionaries before the Spaniards.
dates back to the early 19th century, when immigrants from southern India, mostly Tamil
s, arrived as labourers for the British East India Company
, bringing with them their religion and culture. Their arrival saw the building of Dravidian
temples throughout the island, and the beginnings of a vibrant Hindu culture. The first temple, Sri Mariamman Temple
in Singapore's Chinatown
. There are currently about thirty main temples in Singapore, dedicated to various gods and goddesses from the Hindu pantheon. Today, two government bodies deal with all Hindu affairs: The Hindu Endowments Board and The Hindu Advisory Board.
, which had strong Hindu roots. The epic, Ramakien
, is based on the Ramayana
. The city, Ayutthaya
, is named after Ayodhya, the birthplace of Rama
. Numerous rituals derived from Brahminism are preserved in rituals, such as use of holy strings and pouring of lustral water from conch shells. Furthermore, Hindu deities are worshipped by many Thais alongside Buddhism, such as the famous Erawan shrine
, and statues of Ganesh, Indra
, and Shiva
, as well as numerous symbols relating to Hindu deities are found, e.g., Garuda
, a symbol of the monarchy. The famous Hindu rituals of The Giant Swing
and the Triyampavai-Tripavai ceremony depict a legend about how the god created the world.
The élite, and the royal household, often employ Brahmans to mark funerals and state ceremonies such as the ploughing ceremony to ensure a good harvest. The importance of Hinduism cannot be denied, even though much of the rituals has been syncretised with Buddhism.
The Champa
civilization was located in the more southern part of what is today Central Vietnam
, and was a highly Indianized Hindu Kingdom, practicing a form of Shaivite Hinduism brought by sea from India. Mỹ Sơn, a Hindu temple complex built by the Champa is still standing in Quang Nam province
, in Vietnam. The Champa were conquered by the Vietnamese
and today are one of the many ethnic minorities of Vietnam. Hindu temples are known as Bimong in Cham language and the priests are known as Halau Tamunay Ahier.
The Balamon Hindu Cham people of Vietnam make up only 25% of the overall Cham population (the other 75% are Muslims or Cham Bani). Of these, 70% belong to the Nagavamshi Kshatriya caste ' onMouseout='HidePop("8132")' href="/topics/Vietnamese_language">Vietnamese
as "Satrias"), and claim to be the descendants of the Champa Empire. A sizeable minority of the Balamon Hindu Cham are Brahmins.
In all, approximately 50,000 Chams in Vietnam are Hindu, with another 4,000 Hindus living in Ho Chi Minh City
; some of these are ethnic Cham, but most are Indian (Tamil
) or of mixed Indian-Vietnamese descent. The Mariamman Temple
is one of the most notable Hindu temples in Ho Chi Minh City. In Ninh Thuan Province, where most of the Cham in Vietnam reside, Cham Balamon (Hindu Cham) numbers 32,000; Out of the 22 villages in Ninh Thuan, 15 are Hindu.
Champa
The kingdom of Champa was an Indianized kingdom that controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832.The Cham people are remnants...
civilization in southern parts of Central Vietnam
History of Vietnam
The history of Vietnam covers a period of more than 2,700 years. By far Vietnam's most important historical international relationship has been with China. Vietnam's prehistory includes a legend about a kingdom known as Van Lang that included what is now China's Guangxi Autonomous Region and...
, Funan in Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, the Khmer Empire
Khmer Empire
The Khmer Empire was one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia. The empire, which grew out of the former kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalized parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Malaysia. Its greatest legacy is Angkor, the site of the capital city...
in Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, Langkasuka Kingdom
Langkasuka
Langkasuka was an ancient Hindu Malay kingdom located in the Malay Peninsula...
, Gangga Negara
Gangga Negara
Gangga Negara is believed to be a lost semi-legendary Hindu kingdom mentioned in the Malay Annals that covered present day Beruas, Dinding and Manjung in the state of Perak, Malaysia with Raja Gangga Shah Johan as one of its kings...
and Old Kedah in the Malay Peninsular, the Srivijayan kingdom on Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
, the Singhasari
Singhasari
Singhasari was a kingdom located in east Java between 1222 and 1292. The kingdom succeeded Kingdom of Kediri as the dominant kingdom in eastern Java.-Foundation:...
kingdom and the Majapahit Empire
Majapahit Empire
Majapahit was a vast archipelagic empire based on the island of Java from 1293 to around 1500. Majapahit reached its peak of glory during the era of Hayam Wuruk, whose reign from 1350 to 1389 marked by conquest which extended through Southeast Asia. His achievement is also credited to his prime...
based in Java, Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
, and the Philippine
History of the Philippines
The history of the Philippines is believed to have begun with the arrival of the first humans via land bridges at least 30,000 years ago. The first recorded visit from the West is the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, who sighted Samar on March 16, 1521 and landed on Homonhon Island southeast of Samar...
archipelago. The civilization of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
influenced the languages, scripts, calendars, and artistic aspects of these peoples and nations.
Prominent Hindus (e.g., Swami Sadananda Maharaj) from India have visited South East Asia for the purpose of exploring the Hinduism of these places.
History
Indian scholars wrote about the Dvipantara or Jawa Dwipa HinduHindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
kingdom in Java and Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
around 200 BC
200 BC
Year 200 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maximus and Cotta...
. Southeast Asia was frequented by traders from eastern India, particularly Magadha
Magadha
Magadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...
, as well as from the kingdoms
Chola Dynasty
The Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which was one of the longest-ruling in some parts of southern India. The earliest datable references to this Tamil dynasty are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BC left by Asoka, of Maurya Empire; the dynasty continued to govern over varying territory until...
of South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
.
The Taruma kingdom occupied West Java around 400
400
Year 400 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus...
. There was a marked Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
influence starting about 425
425
Year 425 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Valentinianus...
.
These seafaring peoples engaged in extensive trade, which attracted the attention of the Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
, Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese, as well as Islamic traders, who reached the Aceh area of Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
in the 12th century.
Some scholars have pointed out that the legends of Ikshvaku
Ikshvaku
Ikshvaku pāli: Okkāka) was the first king of the Ikshvaku dynasty and founder of the Solar Dynasty of Kshatriyas in Vedic civilization in ancient India.-In Hinduism:He is remembered in Hindu scriptures as a righteous and glorious king...
and Sumati may have their origin in the Southeast-Asian myth of the birth of humanity from a bitter gourd. The word Ikshvaku means "bitter gourd". The legend of Sumati, the wife of King Sagar, tells that she produced offspring with the aid of a bitter gourd.
Modern era
Vibrant Hindu communities remain in Malaysia, SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
(as in Java, Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
, Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
and Kalimantan
Kalimantan
In English, the term Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, while in Indonesian, the term "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo....
) (for details, see Agama Hindu Dharma), and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
mainly due to presence of Indians. One notably Southeast Asian aspect of Hinduism is the festival of Thaipusam
Thaipusam
Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai . It is celebrated not only in countries where the Tamil community constitutes a majority, but also in countries where Tamil communities are smaller, such as Singapore and Malaysia...
.
The resurgence of Hinduism in Indonesia is occurring in all parts of the country. In the early seventies, the Toraja
Toraja
The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 650,000, of which 450,000 still live in the regency of Tana Toraja . Most of the population is Christian, and others are Muslim or have local animist beliefs known as aluk...
people of Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
were the first to be identified under the umbrella of 'Hinduism', followed by the Karo Batak of Sumatra in 1977 and the Ngaju Dayak of Kalimantan in 1980. In an unpublished report in 1999, the National Indonesian Bureau of Statistics admitted that around 100,00
se had officially converted or 'reconverted' from Islam to Hinduism over the previous two decades.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs, as of 2007 estimates there to be at least 10 million Hindus in Indonesia
The growth of Hinduism has been driven also by the famous Javanese prophesies of Sabdapalon
Sabdapalon
Sabdapalon was a priest and adviser to Brawijaya V, the last ruler of the Hindu empire Majapahit in Java. He was mentioned in Darmagandhul, a Javanese spiritual story. He was also said to have cursed his king upon the conversion of the latter to Islam in 1478...
and Jayabaya.
Many recent converts to Hinduism had been members of the families of Sukarno
Sukarno
Sukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo was the first President of Indonesia.Sukarno was the leader of his country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands and was Indonesia's first President from 1945 to 1967...
's PNI, and now support Megawati Sukarnoputri
Megawati Sukarnoputri
In this Indonesian name, the name "Sukarnoputri" is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name "Megawati"....
. This return to the 'religion of Majapahit' (Hinduism) is a matter of nationalist pride.
The new Hindu communities in Java tend to be concentrated around recently built temples (pura) or around archaeological temple sites (candi) which are being reclaimed as places of Hindu worship. An important new Hindu temple in eastern Java is Pura Mandaragiri Sumeru Agung, located on the slope of Mt. Semeru
Semeru
Semeru, or Mount Semeru , is a volcano located in East Java, Indonesia. It is the highest mountain on the island of Java...
, Java's highest mountain. Mass conversions have also occurred in the region around Pura Agung Blambangan, another new temple, built on a site with minor archaeological remnants attributed to the kingdom of Blambangan, the last Hindu polity on Java, and Pura Loka Moksa Jayabaya (in the village of Menang near Kediri), where the Hindu king and prophet Jayabaya is said to have achieved spiritual liberation (moksa
Moksha
Within Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...
). Another site is the new Pura Pucak Raung in East Java, which is mentioned in Balinese literature as the place from where Maharishi Markandeya took Hinduism to Bali in the 5th century AD.
An example of resurgence around major archaeological remains of ancient Hindu temple sites was observed in Trowulan near Mojokerto, the capital of the legendary Hindu empire Majapahit. A local Hindu movement is struggling to gain control of a newly excavated temple building which they wish to see restored as a site of active Hindu worship. The temple is to be dedicated to Gajah Mada, the man attributed with transforming the small Hindu kingdom of Majapahit into an empire. Although there has been a more pronounced history of resistance to Islamization in East Java, Hindu communities are also expanding in Central Java near the ancient Hindu monuments of Prambanan.
The current estimates of Hinduism in Indonesia range from 4 to 8 percent
Burma
Hinduism in Burma is practised by less than 2% of the population (approximately 240,000), with most practitioners being Burmese IndiansBurmese Indians
Burmese Indians are a group of people of Indian subcontinental ethnicity who live in Myanmar . While Indians have lived in Burma for many centuries, most of the ancestors of the current Burmese Indian community emigrated to Burma from the start of British rule in the mid 19th century to the...
. Because a reliable census has not been taken in Burma since colonial times, the given figures are rough estimates. Despite its minority designation today, Hinduism has been greatly influential in Burmese history and literature. Hinduism, along with Buddhism, greatly influenced the royal court of Burmese kings in pre-colonial times, as seen in the architecture of cities such as Bagan
Bagan
Bagan , formerly Pagan, is an ancient city in the Mandalay Region of Burma. Formally titled Arimaddanapura or Arimaddana and also known as Tambadipa or Tassadessa , it was the capital of several ancient kingdoms in Burma...
. Likewise, the Burmese language
Burmese language
The Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar and related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar, as well as...
contains many loanwords from Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...
, many of which relate to religion. Several aspects of Hinduism can be found in Burma today. In nat worship
Nat (spirit)
The nats are spirits worshipped in Burma in conjunction with Buddhism. They are divided between the 37 Great Nats and all the rest . Almost all of the 37 Great Nats were human beings who met violent deaths . They may thus also be called nat sein...
, which is practised by the dominant Bamar
Bamar
The Bamar are the dominant ethnic group of Burma , constituting approximately two-thirds of the population. The Bamar live primarily in the Irrawaddy basin, and speak the Burmese language, which is also the official language of Burma. Bamar customs and identity are closely intertwined with general...
ethnic group, Burmese adaptations of Hindu gods are worshipped. For example, the king of the nats, Thagyamin, is identified with the Hindu god Indra
Indra
' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
. Burmese literature has also been enriched by Hinduism, including the Burmese adaptation of the Ramayana, called Yama Zatdaw
Yama Zatdaw
Yama Zatdaw , unofficially Myanmar's national epic, is the Burmese version of the Ramayana. There are nine known pieces of the Yama Zatdaw in Myanmar...
. Many Hindu gods are likewise worshipped by Burmese Buddhists, including Saraswati
Saraswati
In Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....
(known as Thuyathadi in Burmese
Burmese language
The Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar and related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar, as well as...
), the goddess of knowledge, who is often worshipped before examinations.
According to the Myanmar government, the distribution of Hindus there is as follows:
| Region | Population | Hindu population | % Hindu |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rakhine State | 2,744,000 | 5,500 | 0.20% |
| Mon State | 2,466,000 | 29,600 | 1.20% |
| Kayin State | 1,431,377 | 11,500 | 0.80% |
| Shan State | 4,851,000 | 14,600 | 0.30% |
| Kayah State | 259,000 | 300 | 0.10% |
| Kachin State | 1,270,000 | 15,200 | 1.20% |
| Chin State | 480,000 | 500 | 0.10% |
| Bago Region | 5,099,000 | 35,700 | 0.70% |
| Mandalay Region | 7,627,000 | 15,300 | 0.20% |
| Sagaing Region | 5,300,000 | 5,300 | 0.10% |
| Magwe Region | 4,464,000 | 4,500 | 0.10% |
| Tanintharyi Region | 1,356,000 | 2,700 | 0.20% |
| Yangon Region | 5,560,000 | 55,600 | 1.00% |
| Ayeyarwady Region | 6,663,000 | 6,700 | 0.10% |
Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
was first influenced by Hinduism during the beginning of the Funan kingdom. Hinduism was one of the Khmer Empire
Khmer Empire
The Khmer Empire was one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia. The empire, which grew out of the former kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalized parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Malaysia. Its greatest legacy is Angkor, the site of the capital city...
's official religions. Cambodia is the home to one of the only two temples dedicated to Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
in the world. Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation – first Hindu,...
of Cambodia is the largest Hindu temple in the world.
Laos
Laos used to be part of Khmer Empire. The Wat Phou is one of the last influences of that period. The Laotian adaptation of the Ramayana is called Phra Lak Phra LamPhra Lak Phra Lam
Phra Lak Phra Lam is the national epic of the Lao people, and is adapted from Valmiki's Hindu epic, the Ramayana. Similar to some Malay versions of the Hikayat Seri Rama, the epic has lost the association with Hinduism and is instead considered a Jataka Story, a previous lifetime of the Buddha...
.
The Philippines
Until the arrival of an Arab trader to Sulu Island 1450 and Ferdinand MagellanFerdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....
, who sailed in behalf of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
1521, the chiefs of many Philippine islands were called Raja
Raja
Raja is an Indian term for a monarch, or princely ruler of the Kshatriya varna...
s, and the script was derived from Brahmi
Brāhmī script
Brāhmī is the modern name given to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of scripts. The best-known Brāhmī inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to the 3rd century BCE. These are traditionally considered to be early known examples of Brāhmī writing...
. Karma
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
, a Hindu concept is understood as part of the traditional view of the universe by many Philippine peoples, and have counterparts such as kalma in the Pampangan language, and Gabâ
Gabâ
Gabâ or gabaa, for the people in many parts of the Philippines), is the concept of a non-human and non-divine, imminent retribution. A sort of negative karma, it is generally seen as an evil effect on a person because of their wrongdoings or transgressions...
in the Cebuano language
Cebuano language
Cebuano, referred to by most of its speakers as Bisaya , is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people mostly in the Central Visayas. It is the most widely spoken of the languages within the so-named Bisayan subgroup and is closely related to other Filipino...
. The vocabulary in all Philippine languages reflect strong Hindu influences.
In the archipelago that was to become the Philippines, the statues of the Hindu gods were hidden to prevent their destruction by a religion which destroyed all cult image
Cult image
In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents...
s. One statue, a "Golden Tara", a 4-pound gold statue of a Hindu-Malayan goddess, was found in Mindanao
Mindanao
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
in 1917. The statue, denoted the Agusan Image, is now in the Field Museum of Natural History
Field Museum of Natural History
The Field Museum of Natural History is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It sits on Lake Shore Drive next to Lake Michigan, part of a scenic complex known as the Museum Campus Chicago...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The image is that of a Hindu-Malayan female deity, seated cross-legged. It is made of "twenty-one carat gold and weighs nearly four pounds." It has a richly ornamented headdress and many ornaments in the arms and other parts of the body. Scholars date it to the late 13th or early 14th century. It was made by local artists, perhaps copying from an imported Javanese model. The gold was used from this area, since Javanese miners were known to have been engaged in gold mining in Butuan at this time.
The existence of these gold mines, this artefact and the presence of "foreigners" permit us to surmise on the existence of some foreign trade, gold as element in the barter economy, and of cultural and social contact between the natives and "foreigners." As previously stated, his statue is not housed in The Philippines. Prof. Beyer in 1918 tried to get the government to buy it for the National Museum, but as the bullion exceeded 4,000 pesos (at the old rate), funds were not available. Mrs. Leonard Wood (whose husband was military-governor of the Moro Province in 1903-1906 and governor general in 1921-1927) raised funds for its purchase by the Chicago Museum of Natural History. It is now on display in that museum's Gold Room.
According to Prof. Beyer, considered the "Father of Philippine Anthropology and Archaeology", a woman in 1917 found it on the left bank of the Wawa River near Esperanza, Agusan, projecting from the silt in a ravine after a storm and flood. From her hands it passed into those of Bias Baklagon, a local government official. Shortly after, ownership passed to the Agusan Coconut Company, to whom Baklagon owed a considerable debt. Mrs. Leonard Wood bought it from the coconut company..."
Another gold artifact of Garuda
Garuda
The Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...
, the phoenix
Phoenix (mythology)
The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....
who is the mount of Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
was found in Palawan
Palawan
Palawan is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region or Region 4. Its capital is Puerto Princesa City, and it is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of jurisdiction. The islands of Palawan stretch from Mindoro in the northeast to Borneo in the...
.
Today, there is a Hindu temple at Mahatma Gandhi Street on U N avenue in Paco area, Manila, Metro Manila
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila , the National Capital Region , or simply Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the City of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines...
and about 15 minutes away, there is a Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
temple at U.N. Avenue and as per estimate there is 22 gurudwaras in all over Philippines today. Although most of the adherents are India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
ns, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
ns and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
ese. There are various Hare Krishna
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness , known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization. It was founded in 1966 in New York City by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada...
groups that are gaining in popularity. Indians have been in the Philippines even before the Spaniards but blend into society and tend to maintain a low profile.
Hinduism was deterred by the spread of Christianity by the Spaniards and the spread of Islam by Malay and Javanese missionaries before the Spaniards.
Singapore
The introduction of Hinduism into SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
dates back to the early 19th century, when immigrants from southern India, mostly Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
s, arrived as labourers for the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
, bringing with them their religion and culture. Their arrival saw the building of Dravidian
Dravidian architecture
Dravidian architecture was a style of architecture that emerged thousands of years ago in Southern part of the Indian subcontinent or South India. They consist primarily of pyramid shaped temples called Koils which are dependent on intricate carved stone in order to create a step design consisting...
temples throughout the island, and the beginnings of a vibrant Hindu culture. The first temple, Sri Mariamman Temple
Sri Mariamman Temple
The Sri Mariamman Temple is Singapore's oldest Hindu temple. It is an agamic temple, built in the Dravidian style. Located at No. 244 South Bridge Road, in the downtown Chinatown district, the temple serves mainly South Indian Tamil Hindu Singaporeans in the city-state...
in Singapore's Chinatown
Chinatown, Singapore
Singapore's Chinatown is an ethnic neighbourhood featuring distinctly Chinese cultural elements and a historically concentrated ethnic Chinese population. Chinatown is located within the larger district of Outram....
. There are currently about thirty main temples in Singapore, dedicated to various gods and goddesses from the Hindu pantheon. Today, two government bodies deal with all Hindu affairs: The Hindu Endowments Board and The Hindu Advisory Board.
Thailand
A number of Hindus remain in Thailand. They are mostly located in the cities. In the past, the nation came under the influence of the Khmer EmpireKhmer Empire
The Khmer Empire was one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia. The empire, which grew out of the former kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalized parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Malaysia. Its greatest legacy is Angkor, the site of the capital city...
, which had strong Hindu roots. The epic, Ramakien
Ramakien
The Ramakian is Thailand's national epic, derived from the Hindu epic Ramayana....
, is based on the Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
. The city, Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya (city)
Ayutthaya city is the capital of Ayutthaya province in Thailand. Located in the valley of the Chao Phraya River. The city was founded in 1350 by King U Thong, who went there to escape a smallpox outbreak in Lop Buri and proclaimed it the capital of his kingdom, often referred to as the Ayutthaya...
, is named after Ayodhya, the birthplace of Rama
Rama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
. Numerous rituals derived from Brahminism are preserved in rituals, such as use of holy strings and pouring of lustral water from conch shells. Furthermore, Hindu deities are worshipped by many Thais alongside Buddhism, such as the famous Erawan shrine
Erawan Shrine
The Erawan Shrine is a Hindu shrine in Bangkok, Thailand that houses a statue of Phra Phrom, the Thai representation of the Hindu creation god Brahma. A popular tourist attraction, it often features performances by resident Thai dance troupes, who are hired by worshippers in return for seeing...
, and statues of Ganesh, Indra
Indra
' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, and Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, as well as numerous symbols relating to Hindu deities are found, e.g., Garuda
Garuda
The Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...
, a symbol of the monarchy. The famous Hindu rituals of The Giant Swing
Giant Swing
The Giant Swing is a religious structure in Bangkok, Thailand, Phra Nakhon district, located in front of Wat Suthat temple. It was formerly used an old Brahmin ceremony, and is one of Bangkok's tourist attractions.-History:...
and the Triyampavai-Tripavai ceremony depict a legend about how the god created the world.
The élite, and the royal household, often employ Brahmans to mark funerals and state ceremonies such as the ploughing ceremony to ensure a good harvest. The importance of Hinduism cannot be denied, even though much of the rituals has been syncretised with Buddhism.
Vietnam
Champa
The kingdom of Champa was an Indianized kingdom that controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832.The Cham people are remnants...
civilization was located in the more southern part of what is today Central Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, and was a highly Indianized Hindu Kingdom, practicing a form of Shaivite Hinduism brought by sea from India. Mỹ Sơn, a Hindu temple complex built by the Champa is still standing in Quang Nam province
Quang Nam Province
Quảng Nam is a province on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bordered by Thua Thien-Huế province to the north, the nation of Laos to the west, Kon Tum Province to the southwest, Quảng Ngãi Province to the southeast, the South China Sea to the east, and the city of Da Nang to the...
, in Vietnam. The Champa were conquered by the Vietnamese
Vietnamese people
The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
and today are one of the many ethnic minorities of Vietnam. Hindu temples are known as Bimong in Cham language and the priests are known as Halau Tamunay Ahier.
The Balamon Hindu Cham people of Vietnam make up only 25% of the overall Cham population (the other 75% are Muslims or Cham Bani). Of these, 70% belong to the Nagavamshi Kshatriya caste ' onMouseout='HidePop("8132")' href="/topics/Vietnamese_language">Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
as "Satrias"), and claim to be the descendants of the Champa Empire. A sizeable minority of the Balamon Hindu Cham are Brahmins.
In all, approximately 50,000 Chams in Vietnam are Hindu, with another 4,000 Hindus living in Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
; some of these are ethnic Cham, but most are Indian (Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
) or of mixed Indian-Vietnamese descent. The Mariamman Temple
Mariamman Temple, Ho Chi Minh City
The Mariamman Temple of Ho Chi Minh City is a temple dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Mariamman. It was built in the late 19th century by traders from Tamil Nadu known as Nagarathar.-Architecture:...
is one of the most notable Hindu temples in Ho Chi Minh City. In Ninh Thuan Province, where most of the Cham in Vietnam reside, Cham Balamon (Hindu Cham) numbers 32,000; Out of the 22 villages in Ninh Thuan, 15 are Hindu.
External links
- Map of Khmer Empire art reveals ancient urban sprawl
- Thailand Hinduism - A report on Hinduism in Thailand
- Hindu-Buddhist Java and Southeast Asia
- Hindu-Kaharingan Tiwah ceremony in Borneo
- Hindu revival in Java
- A tribute to hinduism
- Hindu influence in Southeast Asia
- Siddha Yoga Tradition in Malaysia
- Heritage bid unites border rivals