Culture Burmese Indians

a hindu temple procession in yangon.

india has been particularly influential in burmese culture cradle of buddhism, , ancient hindu traditions can still seen in brahmans presiding on important ceremonies such weddings , ear-piercings notably in thingyan, burmese new year festival. burmese poetry tradition of niti (notably dhammaniti) has indian origins. traditions of kingship including coronation ceremonies , formal royal titles of lawmaking hindu in origin. many burmese dishes , breads came result of indian influence, prominently reflected in burmese version of indian biryani.

burmese indians came various groups different parts of india, including tamils, telugus, hindi speakers, bengali, gujarati, oriya, , punjabis. today form approximately 2% (about 950,000) of population, according cia world factbook 2006, although exact figures not exist due uncertainties on census results , methods in myanmar. disaffected young indians flee cities , join ethnic resistance movements. burma muslim union members consist largely of muslims of indian origin routinely labelled government muslim terrorist insurgents . in actuality operates alongside karen national union and, despite swelling of ranks following anti-muslim riots in eighties, remains minor force.

religion


the bengali sunni jameh mosque, built in colonial era, 1 of many mosques in yangon.

burmese indians practise hinduism, islam, sikhism, buddhism , christianity.

predominantly, burmese indians hindu. practice of hinduism among burmese indians influenced buddhism. in addition of hindu deities, buddha worshiped , many hindu temples in myanmar house statues of buddha.

burmese muslims, of them of mixed blood born of burmese mothers , of them full burmese blood, call bama musalin (ဗမာမူစလင္); majority sunni small numbers of twelvers. burmese call them zaydabayi.

the constitution grants limited rights freedom of religion; however, articles in constitution, other laws , policies, restrict rights. in practice government enforced restrictions. muslims continue experience severe forms of legal, economic, religious, educational, , social restrictions , discrimination . military dictatorship rejects or ignores requests when want build mosques in country or go abroad religious ceremonies. although there freedom of religion in burma, muslims decided not hold eid al-adha in 2012 due rakhine-rohingya strikes in rakhine state.

language

burmese indians array of ethnic backgrounds. there tamils tamil nadu, telugus andhra pradesh , marwaris marwar region of india s rajasthan state bengalis hailing indian state of west bengal present-day independent nation of bangladesh. prior expulsion of indians, there malayalis kerala, odias odisha, punjabis state of punjab sikhs , 2 groups of gujaratis, both gujarati-speaking parsis , gujaratis proper hindus or muslims faith hailing state of gujarat.

all can , able communicate in burmese due years of assimilation , lack of education in languages other english. other languages used burmese indians include tamil, telugu , small pockets of malayalam speakers.