Do Sri Lankan Tamil buddhists exist?

[Soomy]

Hi Singalese buddhists are presents in Sri Lanka, and I wonder if there are also Sri Lankan Tamil buddhist (Indian Tamil buddhists exist).

Why are Tamil people considered as a religion, not a community?

[Roshan]

Hi Singalese buddhists are presents in Sri Lanka, and I wonder if there are also Sri Lankan Tamil buddhist (Indian Tamil buddhists exist).

No Tamil Buddhists exist in Sri Lanka. All Buddhists are Singhalese.

Why are Tamil people considered as a religion, not a community?

Not only Tamil even Singhala is considered a religion by most. Though they say there are some historical and political reasons behind it - the basic reason is - in Sri Lanka - as I said above - all Buddists are Singhalese and all Hindus are Tamils. There's no mixture of Tamils and Singhalese in these two religious groups.

The mother tounge of local Muslims are Tamil and there is a very small number of Malay and Urdu speaking Muslims ( percentage is negligible). But majority of the Muslims (except those who in live in the Northern and Eastern region) and even Malay Muslims are well conversant with Tamil and Singhala - and that's one of the reasons why they dont fall into the Tamil or Singhala category.

As for Christians .. you get Singhalese Christians and Tamil Christians. The Singhalese Christians hardly know Tamil but the Tamils Christians usually are good at speaking Singhalese (exception - Northern and Eastern Christians). Thus they too dont fall into only Tamil or only Singhala category.