Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies: Home

Abstract:
As in many parts of Asia, the origins of modern nationalism in Sri Lanka may be traced back to programs of religious revivalism which were a reaction to Christian missionary enterprise. ((Silva, 1998). The first phase in the emergence of nationalism in Sri Lanka would cover the last three decades of the nineteenth century. The early nineteenth century saw the beginning of the recovery of Roman Catholicism in the island after the rigorous suppression of it attempted by the Dutch when Calvinist intolerance by Roman Catholicism directed against the indigenous religious of the Sri Lankan littoral. This was a period in which missionary zeal led to a great increase in Christianity among the people, particularly on the western seaboard and in the Northern Province. Later in the century, however, a reaction occurred against Christian proselytise among the intelligentsia who woke to this threat to their beliefs. It has been noted that revivalist movements of Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims were beginning to emerge in Sri Lanka against Christian dominant of Sri Lanka. The Buddhist revival is perhaps described as the Buddhist reaction to the missionary onslaught. The early years of the Buddhist revival saw a concentration of activity in the south-west coast. Most notable of these is the prominent part played by the 'reform' movement within the wider theme of 'nationalist' agitation. 'Constitutionalist', 'moderate' and 'conservative' are some of the terms used to describe the 'reformers' and their political attitudes. Movements among Hindus and Muslims paralleled the Buddhist revival. The Islamic revival however, came late in the century and was less through going. The Hindu revival was far deeper and widespread and also begun much earlier.The Buddhists were soon followed by the Hindus and Muslims. Thus, unlike the Buddhists, the movements among the Hindus and Muslims did not develop to take political overtones. It can be identified some similaraties and differences between the revivalism taken by three communities. The researcher tries to brief these features in this article. It is a pioneer studies incomparing the activities of revivalist movements in Sri Lanka. The research focusses on religious revivalism as the foundation of social movement activities since foreign rule. This paper is attempts to identify some revivalist movements taken by Hindus and Muslims of Sri Lanka with the comparing study of them.

Keywords: Revivalism, Christianity, Hindus, Muslims, Sri Lanka

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