Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Religions of the Indigenous People of South Asia Online

Get access Subject: Asian Studies


Edited by:
Marine Carrin (Editor-in-Chief), University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès, and Michel Boivin, Centre for South Asian Studies (CNRS-EHESS), Gérard Toffin, Centre d’Études Himalayennes, Paul Hockings, University of Illinois at Chicago, Raphaël Rousseleau, Université de Lausanne, Tanka Subba, North-Eastern Hill University, Harald Tambs-Lyche, University of de Picardie-Jules Verne (Section Editors)

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Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Religions of the Indigenous People of South Asia strives to reflect the diversity of indigenous cultures of South Asia with its many language groups and religious traditions. Shaped by their own mythologies, these tribal religions differ in form and content from Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Sikhism, and Christianity, though variants of the latter traditions have been adopted by some indigenous people. Religion is taken in a broad sense and includes aspects of morality, symbolism, identity formation, environmental concerns, and art. Far from being simple survivals of an earlier stage, these religions often show remarkable capacity for adaptation and change. The approach is contemporary rather than a reconstruction of an anterior state, though it does not overlook relevant historical processes.

More information: Brill.com

Vedda/Wannilaeto

(5,272 words)

Author(s): Stegeborn, Wiveca
The Wannilaeto, also known as Vedda (or Veddah), is an indigenous community in Sri Lanka, now displaced into permanent settlements located between the sea in the Eastern Province and the eastern slopes of the central mountain massif in Uva province – a subtropical landscape with mountains, rivers, and ponds. It is, technically speaking, a dry-zone or a dry evergreen forest, meaning that there are long periods of drought with occasional wet periods. Archaeological investigations have yielded evid…
Date: 2021-11-10