The Hospital Gods

The Temple at the Hospital

As I have pointed out in a previous post or two, the primary religion in the north of the country is Hindu.  The majority of the Tamils are Hindu.  There are a few scattered Buddhists around, but mostly in the southern Singala area.  There are a few Moslems, and a few Christians, filling in the smaller percentages.  The hospital at Point Pedro has a small shrine as you go into the main entrance to Ganesh, the Hindu god with the head of an elephant, with one tusk going up, and the other going down.  In his left hand, Ganesh is holding something.  The local people tell me that Ganesh is holding Sri Lanka in his left hand.  At the Operating Theater, there is a big picture of Ganesh as you go through the OT doors.  However, the picture above the Recovery Room is of Jesus.  On Ward 2, just off of the nursing station, along the wall is another small shrine.  This shrine has Christmas lights in red, green and white, flashing all of the time.  This morning, incense was burning.  The shrine consists of a series of pictures.  Again, Ganesh is there.  There is also a Buddha.  There is a crucifix at the end, and a picture of baby Jesus dressed in Sri Lankan clothes.  I didn't really recognize Jesus, as I was always taught that he was born in the Middle East, and was slightly embarrassed after asking the Hindu nurses what the name of this god was.  They seem to be very inclusive.  They don't really think one god is better than another.  I think, just to hedge their bets, they try to get as many gods as they can.  Just in case.