Hinduism in Southeast Asia: Encyclopedia II - Hinduism in Southeast Asia - The Philippines

Hinduism in Southeast Asia - The Philippines

Until the arrival of an Arab trader to Sulu 1450 and Ferdinand Magellan, who sailed in behalf of Spain 1521, the chiefs of many Philippine islands were called Rajas, and the script was derived from Brahmi.the Tagalog (Filipino) word for teacher Guro came from the word guru. Karma, a Hindu concept is culturally understood by Filipinos. The vocabulary in all Philippine languages reflect strong Hindu influences. Tamad means lazy and may have come from the Hindu guna concept of tamas.

In the archipelago that was to become the Philippines, the statues of the Hindu gods were hidden to prevent their destruction by a religion which destroyed all cult images. One statue, a 4-pound gold statue of a Indo-Malayan goddess, found in Mindanao in 1917 and now in the Field Museum of Natural History,Chicago, is dated from the period 1200s to early 1300s. Another gold artifact of Garuda, the phoenix who is the mount of Vishnu was found on Palawan. Today, there is a Hindu temple at Looban Street in Paco, Metro Manila and about 15 minutes away, there is a Sikh temple at U.N. Avenue. Although most of the adherents are ethnic Indians and Sri Lankans and Nepalese. There are various Hare Krishna groups that are gaining in popularity. Indians have been in the Philippines even before the Spaniards but blend into society and tend to maintain a low profile.

Hinduism was deterred by the Spread of Christianity by the Spaniards and the spread of Islam by Indonesians and Malaysian missionaries before the Spaniards. It is highly possible that the Philippines was a part of the old Hindu empires, or tributaries to them.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Philippines", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki