The Southeast Asian country of Malaysia has one of the largest population of ethnic Indians outside of India, with an estimated 1.79 million people of Indian origin in the country, or roughly 7.1 percent of the total population of Malaysia of about 25.3 million. An overwhelming portion of the Indians in Malaysia, about 89 percent, are Hindus. Hinduism is widely practiced in Malaysia where religious freedom is enshrined in the federal constitution, and adds to the multiculturalism in a country that has become a model for religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
While Hindu roots in the country go back to the 2nd century AD, descendants of the early Hindu kingdoms in the country are almost non-existent, the entire population having converted to Islam. Most of the Indians in Malaysia today were brought as indentured laborers by the British to work in oil palm and rubber plantations across the country between the 19th and 20th centuries. A significant portion of these laborers were from the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and share the language and culture of the Tamils. There are smaller numbers of Malayalis and Telugus, from Kerala and Andhra Pradesh respectively, in the country as well, along with Tamils of Sri Lankan origin who are also overwhelmingly Hindus.
Smaller migrations of Indians in the form of skilled workers have occurred in recent years. The latest statistics place the number of Hindus in Malaysia today at approximately 1.6 million.