The Philippines or the Republic of the Philippines which is comprised of about 7,641 islands has a population of about 10.33 crore people and is the 12th most populated country in the world and the eighth-most populated country in Asia.
Though this nation is a secular state, about 80.58% of the population professed Catholicism. Statistics of the National Commission of Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) on 2012 suggests that there are around 1.07 crore Muslims in the nation. Around 2 percent of the Philippines practice Buddhism and remaining handful of people are Hindus, Jews and Baha’is.
By now you are convinced that we need a microscope to search a “Tilak” wearing Hindu in the Philippines. But you’ll be surprised to know that this nation full of islands has strong links to ancient India.
Discoveries that hints the Philippines was originally a land of Indians!
- Mindanao, which has over 2.5 crore residents, is the second largest island in the Philippines. In the year 1917, a five and a half inch tall golden statue recovered from this island which is presently kept in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
- It is said that the golden statue belonged to the Buddhist goddess, Tara. The weight of this statue was approximately 2 Kilos and is dated back to 1200 to 1300 AD. This rare statue was found in Wawa River which is a tributary of the larger Agusan River in Northeastern Mindanao, Caraga, Philippines.
- Lets not forget that the Philippines was controlled by Spain for over 300 years and it is said that several gold items were taken to Spain and melted.
- A discovery had also found Vishnu’s vehicle Garuda in Palawan. Palawan is the largest island of the province of Palawan in the Philippines and the fifth largest island of the country.
Several words of Philippines have roots in Sanskrit and Tamil language!
In 1989 an inscription was found in Luzon known as “Laguna copperplate inscription”dated 900 AD. The inscription is kept in the National Museum of the Philippines in Manila. The inscription has a bunch of Sanskrit words on it.
The Tagalog language is widely used by a quarter of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by the majority. It is officially named as Filipino, which is the national language of the Philippines and is one of two official languages alongside English.
A lot of words in this language is drawn from Sanskrit!
- Budhî (conscience) from the Sanskrit bodhi.
- Bathalà (bhattara) Hindu God Shiva” from the Sanskrit Bhattara.
- Dalità (one who suffers) from the Sanskrit dharita.
- Dukhâ (poverty) from the Sanskrit dukkha.
- Guró (teacher) from the Sanskrit guru.
- Sampalatayà (faith) from the Sanskrit sampratyaya.
- Mukhâ (face) from the Sanskrit mukha.
- Lahò (eclipse, disappear) from the Sanskrit rahu.
- Maharlika “noble” from Sanskrit mahardikka.
- Saranggola (kite) from Sanskrit layang gula (via Malay).
- Asawa (spouse) from Sanskrit swami
- Bagay (thing) from Tamil “vagai”.
- Talà (star) from Sanskrit tara.
- Puto, a traditional rice pastry, from Tamil puttu (via Malay).
- Pitaka, a wallet, from Sanskrit pitaka meaning basket.
Kapampangan language, which is also called as Pampangan language is a major Philippine language. Even this language gas its roots in Sanskrit.
- Kalma (fate) from the Sanskrit karma.
- Damla (divine law) from the Sanskrit dharma.
- Mantala (magic formulas) from the Sanskrit mantra.
- Upaya (power) from the Sanskrit upaya
- Lupa (face) from the Sanskrit rupa.
- Sabla (every) from the Sanskrit sarva.
- Lawu (eclipse) from the Sanskrit rahu.
- Galura “giant eagle (a surname)” from the Sanskrit garuda.
- Laksina “south” (a surname) from the Sanskrit dakshin.
- Laksamana/Lacsamana/Laxamana “admiral” (a surname) from the Sanskrit lakshmana.
Presently, Hindus are largely found only in India and Nepal. But historic discoveries force us to believe that Hinduism was spread across the globe several centuries ago.
Source: Speaking Tree
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