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Sri Lanka

From Bahaipedia
 Sri Lanka
A national meeting of Bahá’í institutions in Sri Lanka in the 2010's.
Location of Sri Lanka
National AssemblySri Lanka
Statistics:
Total Population
 -  UN 2021[1] 21,773,441
Bahá'í pop.
 -  Bahá'í source  
 -  Non-Bahá'í source 16,389
History:
Firsts
 -  Bahá'í to visit 1877, Jamal Effendi 
 -  Pioneers 1949, M. E. Lukmani 
 -  National Assembly 1962 
How to contact:
 -  Email nsasrilanka@bahai.lk
Official Website https://www.bahai.lk/
Related media
Categories: Sri Lanka • People

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island country in the Indian Ocean. Its official languages are Sinhala and Tamil and the official religion is Buddhism.

The region has been inhabited since prehistory. Hinduism was the predominant religion until approximately 300 BCE when Buddhism was introduced. In the late 19th century it was annexed by the British Empire. In 1948 it achieved independence as Ceylon and the name was changed to Sri Lanka when it became a republic in 1972.

The Bahá’í Faith was first taught in Sri Lanka during the lifetime of Bahá’u’lláh although a community was not established. The first pioneer settled in the country in 1949 and a community was established and large scale growth began through mass teaching in the 1960's. The community has continued to develop until the present day and has been making efforts to contribute to social and economic development.

History[edit]

Jamal Effendi, a Bahá’í who pioneered to India on the instructions of Bahá’u’lláh, visited Colombo for a few days in 1877 where he met with some merchants.[2]

‘Abdu’l-Bahá mentioned Ceylon in one of the Tablets of the Divine Plan revealed for the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada on April 11, 1916:

Likewise, if some teachers go to other islands and other parts, such as the continent of Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, also to Japan, Asiatic Russia, Korea, French Indochina, Siam, Straits Settlements, India, Ceylon and Afghanistan, most great results will be forthcoming.[3]

Shoghi Effendi later instructed the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma to open Ceylon to the Faith.[4] In September 1937 Martha Root visited Colombo, Ceylon, early in her teaching tour of the Far East and met with the Mayor, delivered three talks on the radio, spoke at the League of Nations Union, and gave a speech to university students before traveling to India early in October.[2][5]

In January 1938 Martha Root returned to Colombo for ten days accompanied by K. M. Fozdar and Shirin Fozdar and gave a talk to the cities Rotary Club, Ramakrishna Mission School, and at Colombo University, and Shirin gave a radio talk and spoke at the Women's International Club.[5] The National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma decided to send the Fozdar's to visit Ceylon again to follow up on Root's teaching work a few weeks after Root's departure.[4] In 1944 Richard Backwell, an Englishman who had been deployed to Ceylon, declared while in the country making him likely the first person to become a Bahá’í in Sri Lanka, although he had been introduced to the religion and begun to study it in England and did not teach others until returning to England.[6]

In 1948 Shoghi Effendi requested that pioneers be sent to Ceylon from India and two Indian Bahá’ís promptly volunteered however they appear to have been unable to make the move.[7] In May 1949 Dr. M. E. Lukmani pioneered to Ceylon and it was reported the country had been settled,[8] and a small group had been established by 1950.[9] A letter was written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to one of the first Bahá’ís of Ceylon in 1950 which emphasized the importance of unity between Bahá’ís.[10] As of 1951 the National Spiritual Assembly of India, Pakistan and Burma had set itself the goal of establishing two Local Spiritual Assemblies in Ceylon,[11] and by 1952 a Local Spiritual Assembly of Colombo had been established.[12] In 1952 pioneers moved to Kalutara and Batticaloa opening the cities to the Faith and the Bahá’ís of Ceylon were primarily focusing teaching efforts on Kandy and Galle.[12]

In the Guardian's message to the New Delhi Intercontinental Conference held in October, 1953, it was announced that a goal of the Ten Year Crusade launched that year was establishing an independent National Spiritual Assembly of Ceylon,[13] and Dr. Lukmani spoke about his experience pioneering in Ceylon at the Conference.[14] After the conference Hand of the Cause Horace Holley visited Ceylon at the request of Shoghi Effendi.[15] In May 1955 the Bahá’ís of Ceylon purchased a building in Colombo to serve as a Local Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds and become the National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds when a National Spiritual Assembly was established.[16] Hand of the Cause Shu'á'u'lláh ‘Alá'í visited Colombo in October 1956,[17] the same year the community was in negotiations to purchase a national endowment,[18] and it ultimately secured endowment land at Pangiriwatte, Mirihana, Nugegoda in October, 1957.[19][20] In December 1957 a Teaching Conference was held in Colombo to discuss achieving the goals of the Ten Year Crusade.[21]

In 1959 the Custodians announced that the National Spiritual Assembly of Ceylon would be established in 1962.[22] At the opening of the 1960's the Ceylon Bahá’í community experienced massive growth with the number of Bahá’ís increasing sixfold from April 1960 to February 1961,[23] and eight Local Spiritual Assemblies being established in 1961 bringing the total number of Assemblies in the country to ten.[24] Hands of the Cause Ṭaráẓu’lláh Samandarí,[25] Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir and Jalál Kháḍih visited Ceylon in 1961,[26][27] and in 1962 Shu'á'u'lláh ‘Alá'í visited again to attend the National Convention at which the National Spiritual Assembly of Ceylon was established.[28]

In 1964 Rúḥíyyih Khánum visited Ceylon for one and a half days during which she attended the countries third National Convention and at the Convention mass teaching was discussed.[29] In 1966 a Regional Teaching Conference was held in Galle,[30] and Ṭaráẓu’lláh Samandarí visited the country during the year.[31] As of 1967 there were twenty-five Local Spiritual Assemblies in Ceylon and that year the entire membership of the National Assembly were Ceylon citizens rather than visiting pioneers.[32] In late 1968 Hands of the Cause Abu’l-Qásim Faizí and Enoch Olinga made visits to Ceylon,[33] and the community continued to develop in the late 1960's into the early 1970's with approximately 2,000 people declaring between 1968 and 1973.[34]

In 1972 the National Spiritual Assembly of Ceylon became the National Spiritual Assembly of Sri Lanka when the name of the country changed.[35] The National Spiritual Assembly secured land to serve as a Temple site in 1972 and as of that year it had facilitated the publication of Bahá’í literature in Sinhalese and Tamil, had begun publishing a monthly newsletter, was supporting the intensification of mas teaching particularly in rural areas, was overseeing the establishment of children's classes across the country, and was coordinating travel teachers being sent to the Maldives.[34]

Teaching efforts, including holding three National Teaching Conferences, continued to result in success in the mid-1970's with 1,200 people declaring and twenty localities being opened to the Faith between 1973 and 1976.[36] In January 1976 a United States travel teaching team spent one week in Sri Lanka during which they visited a village where the Bahá’í community had experienced some minor persecution, and they helped the community reform a Local Spiritual Assembly with the community becoming confident to be open about the Bahá’í Faith again,[37] and the country had fifty-four Local Spiritual Assemblies as of that year.[36] In 1978 Jamshed Fozdar presented the President of Sri Lanka and his wife with Bahá’í literature.[38]

In the late 1970's Bahá’í teaching in Sri Lanka was supported by international Bahá’í travel teachers visiting the country. A National Youth Committee of Sri Lanka became active in this period and began facilitating conferences and summer schools, the community developed a correspondence course for studying the Bahá’í Faith in Tamil, local Bahá’í centres began to be used to hold deepening classes, and the National Spiritual Assembly appointed committees which were delegated the responsibility of organizing national teaching conferences which met with some success.[39] Political instability in the country resulted in the Bahá’í community making little progress in the early 1980's with the Bahá’ís facing some hardship alongside the rest of the population.[40]

In 1985 the Bahá’í community achieved significant public recognition when World Religion Day, which the community had instigated celebrations of in 1981, was officially recognized by the government of Sri Lanka with a commemorative stamp being issued.[41] In November 1985 the Promise of World Peace message of the Universal House of Justice was presented directly to the President of Sri Lanka by a Bahá’í delegation,[42] and in December the community held a youth seminar attended by representatives of over 35 non-governmental organizations and opened by the Sri Lankan representative of the United Nations.[43] The community began hosting special conferences and developing deepening materials dedicated to family development in the late 1980's which the National Spiritual Assembly reported had resulted in a distinct Bahá’í family culture being developed.[44]

Throughout the 1990's the community utilized newspapers to promote its community events and also had excerpts from the Bahá’í writings published.[45] The community also began to participate in the discourses of society in the 1990's with the community holding a public meeting in 1994 on the theme of the relationships between families and society,[46] in November 1994 the community held a women's conference on the theme education, empowerment, and the environment which was sponsored by a leading women's organization,[47] and in December 1997 the Colombo Bahá’í community was asked to facilitate a workshop on environmental degradation and its impact on humanity by the cities Institute of Human Rights.[48]

The community achieved a long-standing goal in November 1998 when the Colombo local government granted the communities request to purchase land to establish a Bahá’í cemetery.[49] In 1999 the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Bahá’í Faith in Sri Lanka was celebrated across the country with Local Spiritual Assemblies being encouraged to hold commemorations. In connection with the milestone Sri Lanka's national Bahá’í training institute established a drama group called the Institute of Positive Behavior which began staging shows across the country during the year.[50]

As of 2017 it was estimated there were approximately 5,000 Bahá’ís in Sri Lanka with most of the community residing in the Central, Northern, and Western Provinces with Hatton, Badulla, and Kandy having the largest communities.[51]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1939). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. New York City, NY. Volume 7 (1936-1938), Pg(s) 89. View as PDF.
  3. ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablet to the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada, 11 April 1916
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1939). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. New York City, NY. Volume 7 (1936-1938), Pg(s) 163. View as PDF.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1939). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. New York City, NY. Volume 7 (1936-1938), Pg(s) 98. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 525. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ Baha'i News (1948). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 210, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ Baha'i News (1950). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 227, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ Baha'i News (1950). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 237, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ Baha'i News (1950). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 238, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ Baha'i News (1951). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 248, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Baha'i News (1951). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 248, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 273, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 274, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 275, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
  16. ↑ Baha'i News (1955). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 292, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ Baha'i News (1957). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 313, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ Baha'i News (1956). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 307, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ Baha'i News (1957). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 313, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  20. ↑ Baha'i News (1957). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 322, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  21. ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 323, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
  22. ↑ Baha'i News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 346, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  23. ↑ Baha'i News (1962). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 371, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  24. ↑ Baha'i News (1961). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 366, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.
  25. ↑ Baha'i News (1960). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 357, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  26. ↑ Baha'i News (1961). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 368, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
  27. ↑ Baha'i News (1962). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 378, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  28. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 359. View as PDF.
  29. ↑ Baha'i News (1964). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 401, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  30. ↑ Baha'i News (1966). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 423, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  31. ↑ Baha'i News (1966). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 428, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
  32. ↑ Baha'i News (1967). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 439, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  33. ↑ Baha'i News (1969). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 456, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 250. View as PDF.
  35. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 703. View as PDF.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1978). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 16 (1973-1976), Pg(s) 248. View as PDF.
  37. ↑ Baha'i News (1976). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 541, Pg(s) 19. View as PDF.
  38. ↑ Baha'i News (1978). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 565, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  39. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1981). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 17 (1976-1979), Pg(s) 182. View as PDF.
  40. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1986). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 18 (1979-1983), Pg(s) 181. View as PDF.
  41. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 137. View as PDF.
  42. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 341. View as PDF.
  43. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 307. View as PDF.
  44. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 322. View as PDF.
  45. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1997). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 24 (1995-1996), Pg(s) 179. View as PDF.
  46. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1996). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 23 (1994-1995), Pg(s) 57. View as PDF.
  47. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1996). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 23 (1994-1995), Pg(s) 106. View as PDF.
  48. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1999). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 26 (1997-1998), Pg(s) 153. View as PDF.
  49. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2000). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 27 (1998-1999), Pg(s) 112. View as PDF.
  50. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2001). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 28 (1999-2000), Pg(s) 80. View as PDF.
  51. ↑ https://roar.media/english/life/culture-identities/sri-lankas-lesser-known-religious-minority-the-bahai#:~:text=As%20of%20now%2C%20there%20are,%C3%AD%20faith%20in%20the%20country.
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