Christian Missions and Navalar Movement in Sri Lanka: A Re-reading

This paper examines the development of the Navalar Movement and how the Christian missionaries and their works influenced and inspired Arumuga Navalar to be known widely as a leader of the native Saiva-Tamil people in the 19th century. For that, this study traces Arumuga Navalar’s interaction with foreign missionaries and the native-Tamil Christians, especially the opportunities in which he was made to form and lead forward his non-institutionalized movement: Saiva-Tamil Movement in order to reawaken Saivism and also to revive Tamil language and culture in Sri Lanka and South India. Drawing extensively from literature and the Navalar’s writings, the research critically analyzes the inculturation of Navalar and the activities of movement by applying the socio-cultural historical perspective to his journey of life in the hybrid ritualism. This approach provides the focus for the discussion with illustrative examples from the literature and reinterprets the rise and mission of Navalar and how the Movement grew out of the colonial encounter and how it evolved through the years. Further this study will be beneficial to researchers and scholars of Saivism and Christianity religious studies, social and cultural history of Sri Lanka.