Hinduism in the Philippines

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Hinduism has been a major cultural, economic, political and religious influence in the archipelago that now comprise the Philippines. However, currently it is limited to the small recent immigrant Indian community, though the traditional religious beliefs have Hindu influences.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Precolonial period 1.2 Spanish colonial period 1.3 American colonial period 1.4 Hinduism today 2 Psyche 3 Language 3.1 Vocabulary 4 Folklore 5 Art and literature 6 Holy places 7 People 8 See also 9 External links 10 References

[edit] History

[edit] Precolonial period

Historians speculate that the Philippines was under the Sri Vijaya Empire from the 4th to the 10th centuries. The Laguna Copperplate Inscription, partly in Sanskrit and party in local languages, dated to April 21, 900 C.E. mentions a pardon by the Commander in Chief of Tundun, represented by the Lord Minister of Pailah, Jayadewa.

Before the Spanish colonial period, the archipelagos of Southeast Asia were under the influence of the traders of Hindu-Malayan culture, such as the Majapahit Empire, which was being supplanted by Islamic conquest by the Sultanates of Malacca, who had converted from Hinduism to Islam in 1414, and of Borneo. In the Majapahit Empire the last Hindu kings in about 1500 retreated to Bali in order to keep their culture. Influences from the subcontinent may be traced earlier before the arrivals of the Arabs and the Europeans during the 1400s and 1500s respectively. The rulers of many of the islands were called Rajas, or Rajahs. The central region, Visayas, is said to be named after the last Southeast Hindu Prince Sri Vijaya who converted to Islam after which the local Filipinos were in the process of converting to Islam. Islamization was also halted by the colonizing Catholic Spaniards.

[edit] Spanish colonial period

Hinduism was deterred by the spread of Christianity by the Spaniards and the spread of Islam by Indonesians and Malay missionaries before the Spaniards. It is highly possible however, before the arrival of the new religions, that the Philippines was part of Hindu empires based in Java and in other islands. Possibly local Rajahs gave tribute to such empires that included Sri Vijaya and Majapahit.

[edit] American colonial period

Ancient statues of the Hindu gods were hidden to prevent their destruction by a religion which destroyed all idols. One statue, a 4-pound gold statue of an Indo-Malayan goddess was found in Mindanao in 1917, which now sits in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, and is dated from the period 1200s to early 1300s. Another gold artifact of Garuda, the phoenix who is the mount of Vishnu was found on Palawan.

[edit] Hinduism today

There is some growth in the religion as of late, although most temples cater to the same communities. Actual adherents of Hinduism are mostly limited to communities that include indigenous and native peoples, expatriate communities, as well as new converts. There are various Hare Krishna groups and popular Hindu personalities and groups such as Sai Baba, and Paramahansa Yoganda(SRF) that can be found. Hindu based practises like Yoga and meditation are also popular.

[edit] Psyche

Although Hinduism is a minority in the country, Hindu beliefs are socially and culturally ingrained even in the majority of Filipinos, who are mostly Roman Catholic. Karma is readily understood and is a part of the native ethics. Respect for teachers is also ingrained in the people as expected with a Hindu guru (the word "teacher" in Filipino is "guro").Tamad means lazy which corresponds to the Hindu concept of Tamas meaning "too inactive", negative, lethargic, dull, etc.

[edit] Language

Strong Hindu influences are also common in Filipino languages and vocabulary. These words of Sanskrit origin entered the language via Malay. Local words like Guro (teacher) came from the Hindu word Guru. Karma, a Hindu concept, is culturally understood by Filipinos.

[edit] Vocabulary

See also the Sanskrit words in the loan word section of the Tagalog language.

• bahagi (part, portion) in Tagalog, is bhag in Hindi,
• diwata (god or goddess) is devata
• dukha (poor, destitute) is duhkha
• guro (teacher) is guru
• katha (story, fiction) is katha
• mukha (face) is mukha
• yaya (nurse) is aya

[edit] Folklore

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the two great epics of India. Ramayana portrays the battle between good and evil. Rama, with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana, represent the eventual victory of good over evil, represented by Ravana, the ten-headed demon king. Rama is helped by his devotee, Hanuman and the army of monkies under the command of the monkey king Sugriv. The Ramayana has influenced Asia and the rest of the world especially in terms of literature, culture and art.

There are versions of Ramayana in almost all Asian countries, including China, which emphasizes the role of Hanuman. The Philippines also has a Maranao version, "Maharadia Lawana", the result of field research and translation into English by Juan R. Francisco

[edit] Art and literature

The Ramayana is also regularly enacted as "Rama at Sita", in a drama-dance-musical art form at the Folk Arts Theater in Manila, at the University of the Philippines and other venues in the country. The Ramayana was initially translated from English into Filipino by Bienvenido Lumbera. This was followed by complete seven book translation thereof by Josephine Acosta Pasricha.

[edit] Holy places

A Hindu temple in Looban Street, Paco, Manila, caters to the Hindu community. Located within a 15 minute walk from the Hindu temple on UN Avenue, in the same area, there is a Sikh temple catering for the faithful. Sikhism is also a religion that originated in India.

[edit] People

Hindu people nowadays are largely confined to expatriates and indigenous communities. Most of the expatriatres come from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Ethnic Indians have been around even before the colonial times. Some indigenous peoples' practices also are Hindu in origin.

[edit] See also

• Philippine mythology
• Buddhism in the Philippines
• Islam in the Philippines
• Protestants in the Philippines
• Baybayin -Scripts influenced by Brahmic scripts.
• Buhid

[edit] External links

• The Laguna Copperplate InscriptionBy Paul Morrow
• A Philippine Document from 900 A.D. by Hector Santos
• linguistics.byu.edu
• atributetohinduism.com

[edit] References

• El Sanscrito en la lengua Tagalog - T H Pardo de Tavera, Paris 1887;
• The Philippines and India - Dhirendra Nath Roy, Manila 1929 and India and The World - By Buddha Prakash p. 119-120.

Festivals in the Hindu calendar

Sankranti | Hosa Varsha | Gowri Habba | Anantana Vrata | Bheemana Amaavaase | Satyanarayana Pooja | Datta Jayanti | Pongal | Holi | Ugadi | Vishu | Rama Navami | Krishna Janmaashtami | Onam | Ganesh Chaturthi | Vaisakhi | Navratri | Durga Puja | Vijayadashami | Dasara | Karwa Chauth | Deepawali | Thaipusam | Maha Shivaratri | Ekadasi | Mahalakshmi vrata | Raksha Bandhan | Bhai-Dooj/Bhau-Beej | Puthandu v • d • e