History

There are references in Jain texts to various areas of Southeast Asia. During the reign of

Samprati Samprati () was the 5th Emperor of the Maurya dynasty. He was the son of 3rd Mauryan Emperor Ashoka's blind son, Kunala, and succeeded his cousin, 4th Mauryan Emperor Dasharatha, as emperor of the Maurya Empire. He built 1,50,000 Jain Derasar ...

, Jain teachers were sent to various Southeast Asian countries. Prominent Jains (e.g., Jain monk Kshullaka Prayatna Sagar) from India have visited South East Asia for the purpose of representing Jainism, guiding the local Jain community and interacting with the members of other religious faiths, notably Buddhism.

Regions

Brunei

There is no evidence of Jainism in Brunei.

Burma (Myanmar)

The Jain Agamas refer to Southeast Asia as

Suvarnabhumi ( sa, सुवर्णभूमि; Pali: '); my, သုဝဏ္ဏဘူမိ, ; km, សុវណ្ណភូមិ, ''Sovannaphoum''; and th, สุวรรณภูมิ, . is a toponym, that appears in many ancient Indian literary s ...

. Kalakacharya, a Jain monk, is said to have visited Burma. About 5000 Jain families lived in Burma before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Almost all of the families have now left. There are three or four Jain families and a

Jain temple A Jain temple, Derasar (Gujarati: દેરાસર) or Basadi (Kannada: ಬಸದಿ) is the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism. Jain architecture is essentially restricted to temples and monasteries, and Jain buildings gen ...

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

. It was built with

romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

and is located on 29th Street in Latha Township in Old Rangoon. The Yangon Heritage Trust has been lobbying to preserve this temple, along with other prominent landmarks of Old Rangoon.

Cambodia

There is no evidence of Jainism in Cambodia.

Indonesia

A small Jain community exists in Indonesia. The community organises various Jain festivals in Jakarta. The community organisation is called Jain Social Group, Indonesia.

Laos

There is no presence of Jainism in Laos.

Malaysia

There are about 2,500 Jains in Malaysia. It is believed some of them came to Malacca in the 15th or 16th century. The first

in Malaysia is located at Ipoh, Perak and was consecrated in 2012. There is also a Jain temple in Kuala Lumpur. The temple is located in the Bangsar locality of Kuala Lumpur and was built using 4000 kilograms of marble from India. Malaysia's Human Resources Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam was present during the inauguration of the temple in 2011. The Jain community actively celebrates Jain festivals like

Paryushan Das Lakshana'' or ''Paryushana is the most important annual holy event for Jains and is usually celebrated in August or September in Hindi calendar (indian calendar) Bhadrapad Month's Shukla Paksha. Jains increase their level of spiritual inte ...

Hong Kong-China

There are about 500 Jains living in Hong Kong.They also have a Jain temple.

Singapore

Jains have been settled in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

since just before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(1910 – 1914). As of 2006, there were 1,000

Jains Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

in Singapore.

Thailand

Historically, Jain monks took Jain images to Thailand via Sri Lanka. A digambar Jain image is worshipped as an image of Buddha at

Chiangmai Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...

. However, due to a rigid emphasis on austerity, Jainism did not take root in Thailand. As of 2011, there are about 600 Jain families in Thailand, mainly in Bangkok. The Jain community in Thailand in not united, unlike the Jain communities in Singapore, the United States, and some other countries. Separate Jain temples exist for the Digambara and the Svetmabara Jain communities. The Digambar Jain Foundation was established in 2007. The Jain community also sponsors local Thai PhD students to pursue higher studies in Jainism. Some restaurants in Thailand serve Jain food. A majority of the diamond cutting and polishing business in Bangkok is handled by the Jain community.

Vietnam

There is no presence of Jainism in Vietnam.

References

External links

Jainism in Southeast Asia

Jain diaspora

Spread of Jainism in India and abroad- Helmuth Von Glasnapp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jainism In Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

Religion in Southeast Asia