Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Buddhism
Buddhism originated from India and spread to China and eventually SEA. In the 2nd century BCE, Asoka's emissaries (perhaps including Asoka's son Mahinda) went to Sri Lanka, an island southeast of the Indian subcontinent. They were well-received by the local ruler, King Devanampiva Tissa, and Theravada Buddhism took hold there.

This is when the Mahavihara monastery, a center of Sinhalese orthodoxy, was built. It was at the Sri Lankan royal city of Anuradhapura, in about 90 BCE, that the Tripitaka was put in written form in the Pali language. Although there are other versions of the Tripitaka available, the Pali Canon is the earliest written version.

Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhism continued to flourish over the centuries, producing notable Buddhist commentators such as Buddhaghosa (4th–5th century). Although Mahayana Buddhism gained some influence at that time, Theravada ultimately prevailed, and Sri Lanka turned out to be the last stronghold of Theravada Buddhism, from where it would expand again to southeast Asia from the 11th century.

In the areas east of the Indian subcontinent (today's Burma), Indian culture strongly influenced the Mons. The Mons are said to have been converted to Buddhism around 200 BCE under the proselytizing of the Indian king Ashoka, before the scission between Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhism. Early Mon Buddhist temples, such as Peikthano in central Burma, have been dated between the 1st and the 5th century CE.


Hinduism
Originated in India under the rule of hindu kings. Hindu kings spread the religion over SEA but it originated from Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka).It has spread as a result of Hindu kings conquering non-Hindu lands; it has spread as a result of colonization and then globalization; and in the modern period it has spread as a result of westerners adopting, and converting to, Hindu practices and beliefs. Hindu kings began to make forays into Sri Lanka and parts of southeast Asia as early as the 7th century C.E. Hinduism was a major cultural force in much of Southeast Asia, as evidenced, for example, by Angkor Wat or contemporary Balinese Hinduism. The Srivijaya kingdom, established on the island of Sumatra in what is now Indonesia, was a huge Hindu kingdom. In this context, Hinduism took on a distinctly local character, both in terms of the forms of the gods and goddesses and their associated ritual practices. This kind of political expansion outside of India is the exception rather than the rule.

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