page_title: Religion in Malaysia
section_title: Hinduism
hierarchical_section_title: Religion in Malaysia / Hinduism
caption_attribution_description: English: Lord Muruga - A popular Hindu deity
context_page_description: Malaysia is a multicultural and multiconfessional country, whose official religion is Islam. As of the 2010 Population and Housing Census, 61.3 percent of the population practices Islam; 19.8 percent Buddhism; 9.2 percent Christianity; 6.3 percent Hinduism; and 3.4 percent traditional Chinese religions. The remainder is accounted for by other faiths, including Animism, Folk religion, Sikhism, Baha'i Faith and other belief systems. Numbers of self-described atheists in Malaysia are few; the state has come under criticism from human rights organisations for the government's discrimination against atheists, with some cabinet members saying that "the freedom of religion is not the freedom from religion".
  Islam in Malaysia is represented by the Shafi'i version of Sunni theology and the practice of any other form of the religion is heavily restricted by the government. The constitution makes Malaysia a secular country and guarantees freedom of religion, while establishing Islam as the "religion of the Federation" to symbolise its importance to Malaysian society.
  Malaysian Chinese practice various faiths: Mahayana Buddhism and Chinese traditional religions.
context_section_description: The majority of the Tamils who make up 9% of Malaysia's population practice Hinduism. Hinduism was influential prior to Islam, but current adherents are mostly descended from migrant communities from Tamil Nadu who came to Malaya to work on British rubber plantations. A small community of migrants from North India also exists.
  Urban temples are often dedicated to a single deity, while rural temples are often home to many different deities. Most were brought with immigrants. Most temples follow the Saivite tradition from Southern India, for the worship of Siva. The Hindu holiday of Thaipusam and Deepavali is a national holiday. Practice of the Hindu religion is strongly linked with the cultural identity of Malaysian Indians. Those who convert to another religion may be ostracised by their family and the Indian community.
  There is growing anger in the Hindu community over what they believe is a government-backed drive to demolish Hindu temples under the guise that they are illegal structures. The Hindu Rights Action Force, a coalition of 50 Hindu-based NGOs, has accused the government of an unofficial policy of "temple cleansing", with much of the demolition focused around the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. An Indian minister in the cabinet even threatened to boycott Deepavali in response to these demolitions.
caption: The Batu Caves have the tallest Lord Murugan statue in the world.
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