Religion in Sri Lanka

Arahath Sanghamitra, daughter of King Ashoka, brought a sapling of the Bodhi tree in Buddha Gaya to Sri Lanka.

From then on, the royal families had helped to encourage the spread of Buddhism, aiding Buddhist missionaries and building monasteries.

The Sacred Tooth Relic was brought to Sri Lanka in 4th century by Prince Danta and Princess Hemamala.

The origins of the religion are linked to early Tamil immigration into the island since the Chola conquests in the 10th century or even earlier with the Saivite devotional movement that swept South India.

Hinduism in Sri Lanka is largely identified with the Tamil population and is concentrated in the Northern, Eastern and Central Provinces.

A significant Hindu religious figure in Sri Lankan modern history is Satguru Siva Yogaswami of Jaffna.

One of the mystics of the 20th century, Yogaswami was the official satguru and counseling sage of Lanka's several million Tamil Hindu population.

The Ramakrishna Mission is somewhat active in the Amparai and Batticaloa districts while the Shaiva Siddhanta school of philosophy of Shaivism sect of Hinduism is prevalent in the North of Sri Lanka.

However, when the Portuguese arrived at Sri Lanka during the 16th century, many of the Arabs' Muslim descendants were persecuted, thus forcing them to migrate to the Central Highlands and to the east coast.

However, the population of Christians in Sri Lanka didn't dramatically increase until the arrival of Portuguese missionaries during the 15th century.

Under British rule missionary work was undertaken by English societies: Baptist, Wesleyan Methodist, the CMS and SPG.