Hinduism in the Maldives describes the practice of the Hindu religion in the Maldives archipelago. Evidence suggests that Hinduism had a presence in pre-Islamic Maldives. Archaeological remains survive from the 8th or 9th century CE portraying Hindu deities such as Shiva, Lakshmi and the sage

Agastya Agastya ( kn, ಅಗಸ್ತ್ಯ, ta, அகத்தியர், sa, अगस्त्य, te, అగస్త్యుడు, ml, അഗസ്ത്യൻ, hi, अगस्त्य) was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the I ...

. Xavier Romero-Frias, ''The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom''. Barcelona 1999, Maldivian folklore contains legends about the sage Vashishta, known locally as Oditan Kalēge, a mighty sorcerer. Oditan Kalēge's wife is the beautiful Dōgi Aihā who possesses a fiery temperament and is as powerful a sorceress as her husband. Her name is derived from the Sanskrit word '' Yogini''. It is not known why the last Buddhist king embraced

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. The importance of the Arabs as traders in the Indian Ocean by the 12th century may partly explain why this king acted. He adopted the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

title and name (in Arabic) of

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

(discarding the old Divehi title of ''Maha radun'' or ''Ras Kilege'') Muhammad al Adil, initiating a series of six Islamic dynasties consisting of 84 sultans and sultanas that lasted until 1932, when the sultanate became elective. According to

Merinid The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) ...

traveller Ibn Batuta, the person responsible for this conversion was

visitor Abu al Barakat from Morocco. However, a more reliable Maldivian tradition says that he was a Persian saint from Tabriz called Yusuf Shamsuddin. He is also referred to as Tabrizugefaanu. His venerated tomb stands on the grounds of the Friday Mosque, or Hukuru miski, in Malé. Built in 1656, this is the oldest mosque in the Maldives.

Demographics

Don Hiyala and Alifulhu

Among

Maldivian folklore Maldivian mythology or Maldivian folklore is the body of myths, tales and anecdotes belonging to the oral tradition of Maldivians. Even though some of the Maldivian myths were already mentioned briefly by British commissioner in Ceylon HCP Bell tow ...

in which the spirit and sorcery theme are not essential, the most significant is perhaps "Don Hiyalā and Alifulhu". This story about two good-looking lovers is a much changed, Maldivian version of the

Rāmāyana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

. Despite the apparent dissimilarities, the common sequential structure

Vladimir Propp Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp (russian: Владимир Яковлевич Пропп; – 22 August 1970) was a Soviet folklorist and scholar who analysed the basic structural elements of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irredu ...

, ''Morphology of the Folktale'', Austin, Texas, 1984, linking the elements of the Maldivian story with the Indian epic (the heroic married couple, the wicked and powerful king, the kidnapping of the beautiful heroine, etc.) Based on Ramayana it is related to Hinduism and the religious landscape of South Asia in general. This is hardly unexpected, for all South and Southeast Asian countries have local Rāmayāna variations and the Maldives is part of South Asian culture.

Status of Hindus in Maldives

Officially no Maldivians are Hindus. The state religion is

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...

and

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

is not allowed. Maldivian customs laws prohibit import of any idol for the purpose of worship.

References

Sources

*''Asian Variations in Ramayana''. Edited by K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar. Sahitya Akademi. Delhi (1983). * Xavier Romero-Frias, ''The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom''. Barcelona (1999), *Doń Hiyala āi Alifulu. ''Abdullah Sādigu, Mulī''. Novelty Press. Malé (1996).

External links