Religion and ideology in Sri Lanka: Buddhism

Abstract

This chapter aims to investigate how diverse religious ideologies and political visions of the relationship between the state and religion have developed in Sri Lanka. It focuses on the interaction between Buddhist conceptions of the state and Sri Lankan politics, but in order to understand the development of Buddhist ideologies in Sri Lanka, it is also essential to consider the ways in which Hindu and Muslim minorities in Sri Lanka have conceptualised the possible relationship between the state and religion in Sri Lanka. The history of Sri Lanka has often been described as having fallen into a number of periods when different dynasties ruled Sri Lanka from a succession of capital cities. In relation to the Buddhist conflict with the Tamil community, it is important first to consider whether Hindu conceptions of the state impacted Tamil aspirations for a Tamil state within Sri Lanka. Show more