ABSTRACT
In studying diasporic communities, attention is often paid to the factors that draw groups of people abroad. Sri Lankan migrants came to Malaya in multiple waves. Although census data before 1871 include no mention of Sri Lankans living in Malaya, they were present in the port cities of Penang, Melaka and Singapore well before then. The forces motivating people to migrate can rarely be reduced to a single factor. While economic opportunities were alluring to many who risked much to travel across the Indian Ocean, it is also worth bearing in mind that moving to a new country often offers people freedom from their past. The first Sri Lankan temples were established in Malaya in the late nineteenth century. These temples were built to serve the religious and social needs of Sri Lankan immigrants who chose to remain permanently in the Land of Gold.
