What is it about?
Hinduism is the fastest growing non-Christian religion in Australia. This article explores some of the issues facing Tamil Hindu temples in Australia. The temples have been established by Sri Lankan migrants and Tamil is the predominant language in this space. However there are challenges in maintaining Tamil as the congregation becomes more linguistically diverse and the second generation is less interested in the language and religion.
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Why is it important?
There has not been much research into the establishment of Hindu temples in Australia. As Australia becomes more religiously diverse it is necessary to understand what kind of roles temples play for new migrants and how they can assist in helping migrants to maintain their heritage languages and cultures.
Perspectives
This article will appeal to those interested in the sociology of language and religion. It looks at the strong connection between the Tamil language and Hindu religion and how temples in the diaspora aim to maintain that link.
Dr Niru Perera
Australian National University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Tamil in the temples – Language and religious maintenance beyond the first generation, Multilingua, January 2016, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/multi-2015-0059.
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