Sri Lanka has both an ancient Hindu and Buddhist culture. According to tradition, Buddhism came to Sri Lanka from India in the 3rd century BC, when the Sinhalese king Devanampiya Tissa converted to Buddhism. Hinduism is even older and was brought over by the Tamils who crossed over to Sri Lanka from southern India.
For many Sri Lankans, lighting oil lamps is part of everyday life
These religions, which have coexisted on the island for 2,300 years, are not mutually exclusive but rather complement one another. They share common deities, such as Vishnu, who is also the patron deity of Sri Lanka. This is why Hindu and Buddhist temples are often found side by side or even on the same site. The idea that the Sri Lankan civil war was a religious conflict is therefore also untrue.
A Hindu temple located within the Buddhist Pattini Devale in Kandy
The Sri Lankans actively practise these religions, and the island is steeped in them. Throughout the country, one can find Hindu and Buddhist temple complexes ranging from tiny to enormous. The most important sanctuary for Buddhists is the Temple of the Tooth in the ancient capital of Kandy, where a tooth of the Buddha is kept. Another important site is the Mahiyangana Viharaya, a stupa said to have been built during the Buddha’s lifetime.
The Mahiyangana Viharaya Stupa is being decorated as part of a ritual
The form of Buddhism practised in Sri Lanka is Theravada Buddhism. It holds that it is possible for every human being to attain enlightenment, and that all people are therefore equal and must be treated as such. This applies in particular to the treatment of women. As a result, women in Sri Lanka are free to move about wherever they wish without hindrance.
Women can move about completely freely and unhindered in Sri Lanka; here on the train to Galle
Another consequence of this philosophy of equality is that women are often very well educated. When our friend Chitra began studying chemistry at the University of Peradeniya (Kandy) in 1960, there were more women than men enrolled in academic courses.