Society of Sri lanka

Society of Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan society is multi-ethnic and multi-religious since the pre-historic times; each group is mainly characterized by their religions. The majority ethnic group is the Sinhalese who practice Buddhism. The second-largest group is the Tamils who are adherent to Hinduism. Others are Muslims and Christians. With the religious diversity, each community has less interaction with each other, and certain group even came up with conflicts.

Sri Lankan society is dominantly marked by the caste system. Caste system in Sri Lanka is similar to that of India; it is on the same basis that every person is born into a particular group which defines his or her fixed position within society for lifetime. Purity is one of the most basic concepts of caste system. It is believed that each person was born through several past lives and experiences before attaining enough the transcendent knowledge of the material world to get to the ultimate goal of life-that is the salvation or enlightenment. The further step on the road of salvation, the purer consciousness they will have. And, the upper-caste is regarded as the purer people than the lower ones and also deserves respect. These ideas about purity and duty offer the rationale for splitting society into a large number of groups, ranked by the purity of their lifestyles or occupations. The person in each caste must preserve their purity by avoiding the contact with the persons of lower purity.

In Sri Lanka, there are two caste systems, one for the Sinhalese and the other is for the Tamils. For the Sinhalese, although Buddhism they practice discourages the distinction based on caste, it still exists but related to nothing about purity; it is rather on the basis of hereditary roles and functions. For the Tamils, Hinduism is undoubtedly a perpetuated influence on social division among themselves.

Caste system

Caste among the Sinhalese

The most prevailing caste among the Sinhalese population is the Govigama, comprising at least half the Sinhalese population. In traditional Sinhalese society, the people belonged to this caste monopolized the highest positions at royal courts and were mostly the landowning elites. In the twentieth century with a change to the democratic society, people of Govigama caste still dominate the political scene. In most villages, members of the caste are still the rich landlords who practice the traditionally agricultural occupation.

The traditional caste system remains strong especially in the Central Highlands where the former Sinhalese Kingdom, the Kandy Kingdom locates. The kingdom survived the colonization until 1818. Despite its collapse, some traditional practice concerning the caste system was considerably preserved within their society. The most important legacy of the traditional Sinhalese caste system is "rajakariya" or the "king's work" which linked each caste to specific occupation and demanded services for the court and religious institutions. It is obvious then that the caste system of Sinhalese is closely connected to job. The occupation leads to sub-castes among the Sinhalese themselves. The honorific titles of the official ranking of noble dating back to the old kingdom differentiate people from those belonged to commoner families. Marriages between members of the noble families and of the common ones are rare.

Due to conservative tendency of the Sinhalese inhabiting in the Central Highlands, there emerged the variant Sinhalese group that conduct their lives in different way although being grouped as the same society. Caste structures of the so-called low-country Sinhalese has more cosmopolitan and more progressive outlook than that of the traditional Sinhalese. The three major castes confining themselves in the southwest coast, namely Karava (fishermen), Durava (toddy-taper), and Salagama (cinnamon peelers) were originally marginal or low status within the traditional Sinhalese society. However, during the colonial period, these castes occupied high business and academic position, making them accorded with a caste rank equal to or slightly below the Govigama. They define themselves according to the European titles and functions assumed in the colonial administration rather than titles received from the old kingdom.

There are also other lower down castes based on their occupations such as Hakuru (jaggery makers), Berawaya (drummers), Paduvua (palanquin bearers), and Radhu (washer folk). The bottom of the caste ladder is the Rodi, regarded as the "untouchable caste" among the Sinhalese. However, more commonly, the distinct division among the Sinhalese often referred to is between the Kandy Singhalese (The Sinhalese in Central Highlands) and the low-country Sinhalese.

Caste among the Tamils

Influenced by Hinduism, caste structure among the Tamils derives from the Brahman-dominated system of southern India. The highest rank of the caste is Brahmin who preserves sacred texts and enacts sacred rituals in temples; they are then accorded high respect and regarded the purest people who lead others on the road of salvation. The dominant caste after the Brahmin is the Vellala, constituting over 50 percent of the Tamil population. Most members of the Vellala are cultivators. In the past, the Vellala were the elite in the Jaffna Kingdom (the ancient kingdom of the Tamils in Sri Lanka), privileged with their landowning. During the colonial period, a large number of the Vellala sought for social mobility by moving into the state employment and getting into higher education. As a result, the large section of well-educated middle class of the Tamils was formed.

Below the Vellala are the Karaiya whose original occupation is fishing. Like the Vellala, the Karaiya took advantage of raising their economic and ritual position by branching out into commercial affairs during the European colonization in the 19th century. The Chetti, a group of merchant caste also possessed a high ritual position. In the middle of the caste hierarchy is group of small artisan castes.

At the bottom of the system are more countless laboring castes including the Indian Tamils brought from the southern Indian to work on tea plantations in the Central Highlands during the British Rule. Their low ritual status has reinforced their segregation from the Sinhalese and the Sri Lankan Tamils. The discrimination based on caste system has affected the Indian Tamils for decades after the independence in Sri Lanka. Fortunately, in the twentieth century with the consciousness of equality among all people, officially promoted by the government, has softened the old prejudice against the lower castes. Together with the agitation for human rights, the Indian Tamils as well as other lowest castes were offered the access to employment, education, and Hindu temples.

Caste interactions in daily life

Owing to agitation against the discrimination according to the current of human rights in the twentieth century, the caste system in Sri Lanka was less restricted. In addition, it is uncontestable that the modern urban lifestyle in Sri Lanka makes excessive concern about caste niceties impossible. Members from different castes have to cluster on buses together with few worries about the "polluting" of their purity; they eat or talk together freely in restaurants or companies they work together. Employment, health, and educational opportunities are officially open to all without the prejudice based on caste system.

However, the caste segregation still appears on a daily basis, especially in rural areas, by many forms of language and etiquette. There are different forms of speech used for interacting with different levels of caste. Persons of lower rank address their superiors with respectable formulas. Villages are still divided into separate streets or neighborhood based on castes, and the lowest ladder of the system may live in isolated settlement. In political scene, members of the upper-caste still hold the rein even if the access to politics is slightly more opened to members of other orders.

Apart from the caste system which characterizes the Sri Lankan society, Kinship system is also another prevailing feature that makes its social structure more fragmented and complex.

Kinship system

At the very base of society, the nuclear family is the most important and can demonstrate way of life of people the most vividly. The kinship system is related to the preferred cross-cousin marriage between families. Those preferred families are mostly relatives in the same kinship group. That means the most acceptable for a young man to marry is the daughter of his father's sister, and the most suitable spouse of a young woman is the son of her mother's brother. Hereby, the cross-cousin marriage is so important in that it oversees the expansion of kinship group while maintaining the closed ritual purity and retaining control over property within a small circle of relatives.

In many villages, boy and girl have already their marriage plan made by their parents. If persons marry partners other than their cross-cousins, they are supposed to conduct a special ritual during their marriage ceremonies to receive permission from their cousins to marry an outsider.

The vast majority of marriages in Sri Lanka are monogamous. However, the union of one man and more than one woman are neither illegal nor unknown. The kindred has considerably influence on marriage life of the couples. In the rural areas, the customary marriage requires only consent of their parents. The man and the women simply start living together, and if they happen to divorce, it occurs through the mutual consent of the parents in consultation with relatives in their extended family. Most marriages, however, are comparatively stable due to the considerable social pressure and support of the kindred of both the husband and the wife. Consequently, the divorce rate in Sri Lanka is quite low.

In overall, these two systems are integral part of Sri Lanka society, determining the people's roles and way of life in Sri Lanka with a small change. May it seem a fragmented society due to its divisions based on various concepts, Sri Lankan society remains unique because of the unity of people with their faith and belief.