The « Hindus and Others in South Asia and Overseas » research program, hosted by the Center for South Asian Studies of Paris (CEIAS, UMR 8564 EHESS/CNRS), considers Hinduism as a historical point of contact between various religious traditions and ethnic groups. Countless situations of contacts with other religious groups have left their marks on Hinduism, contradicting the ethnic dimension many scholars have focused on. Such relevance of contact in the history of Hinduism is well known in South Asia but must also be analyzed in diasporic contexts.

The aim of this conference, co-organized by the Center for South Asian Studies of Paris and the Center for Studies and Research on India, South Asia and its Diaspora of Montréal (CERIAS/UQÀM), is to focus on Sri Lankan Hinduism and to initiate a discussion on how Hinduism and Hindus interact with other groups and religions they encounter on the island and overseas.

Accounting for 15% of the 21 million inhabitants of the country, Hindu communities live in very different contexts around the island. In the Northern Province, where Tamils make up more than 80% of the population, they are a large majority. In the Eastern Province and in Colombo, where the share of Sinhaleses, Tamils and Muslims is approximately equal, Hindus live together with Muslims, Christians and especially Buddhists (whose religion is the official religion of the state). The Up-Country Tamils, descendants of South Indians, live in the island’s central hills in remote areas surrounded by Sinhaleses. For them, religious practices are also a way to assert their identity and to differentiate themselves from the Sinhala Buddhists and Hindu Tamils of the coastal provinces.

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