List of Buddhist conversions in India

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Deekshabhoomi Stupa in Nagpur where Ambedkar converted to Buddhism.

Since Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's conversion, several thousand people from different castes have converted to Buddhism in ceremonies including the twenty-two vows.

List of Buddhist conversions[change | change source]

In 1956, Ambedkar adopted Buddhism with lakhs of people as "Dalits' path to liberation". Therefore, there is a lot of interest towards Buddhism among the Indian society especially Dalits. Being influenced by Ambedkar, every year thousands of people accept Buddhism. Most of the converts have come from Hindu Dalit community, who consider Ambedkar as their Messiah or liberator. Influenced by Ambedkar, many famous people have embraced Buddhism, including people like Mallikarjun Kharge, Ramdas Athawale, Udit Raj, Laxman Mane, Poolan Devi, Sushma Andhare, Eknath Awad, etc.

List of mass Buddhist conversions in India
Date Place Converted people Former religion/caste/category Source and Note
14 October 1956 Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur, Maharashtra Approx. 500,000 (including B. R. Ambedkar, Savita Ambedkar, Bhaurao Gaikwad, Gangadhar Pantawne etc.) Mostly Hindus (dalit or SC), and some Muslims, Christians and Sikhs B. R. Ambedkar and his wife Savita first embraced Buddhism through Mahathero Chandramani. Then became a Buddhist, B. R. Ambedkar converted all people to Buddhism.[1]
15 October 1956 Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur, Maharashtra approx. 300,000 Mostly Hindus (dalit or SC), and some Muslims, Christians and Sikhs B. R. Ambedkar converted all people to Buddhism. These were people who did not reach the conversion program on 14 October in time.[2]
16 October 1956 Chandrapur, Maharashtra more than 300,000 Mostly Hindus (dalit or SC) B. R. Ambedkar converted all people to Buddhism.[3]
7 December 1956 Chaitya Bhoomi, Mumbai, Maharashtra More than 1,000,000 Mostly Hindus (dalit or SC) It is the biggest religious conversation. Ambedkar had pledged to take a conversion program in Mumbai on 16 December, but he died on 6 December. So at the time of Ambedkar's funeral, people accepted Buddhism by witnessing his dead body. Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan converted all people to Buddhism.[4]
December 1956 Delhi 30,000 Mostly Hindus (dalit or SC) People converted to Buddhism by witnessing the ashes or bones of Ambedkar.
December 1956 Agra, Uttar Pradesh 20,000 Mostly Hindus (dalit or SC) People converted to Buddhism by witnessing the ashes or bones of Ambedkar.
13 April 1957 Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh 200,000 Mostly Hindus (dalit or SC) People converted to Buddhism by witnessing the ashes or bones of Ambedkar. Sangharakshita converted all people to Buddhism.
1985 Junagadh, Gujarat 5,000 Hindus dalit or SC) [5]
4 November 2001 Delhi 50,000 Hindu dalits (SC) Buddhist leader and political activist, Udit Raj, organised the large mass conversion.[6]
14 October 2006 Gulburga, Karnataka Hundreds of people Hindu dalits Bhante Bodhi Dhamma, senior Japanes bhikkhu, conducted the 'deeksha' ceremony. Mallikarjun Kharge was the chief guest of the program.[7]
27 May 2007 Mumbai, Maharashtra 100,000, incl. Laxman Mane Maharashtra's VJ-NT Hindus of 42 different castes The conversion has done by under the leadership of Ramdas Athawale and Laxman Mane.[8][9]
13 October 2016 Ahmadabad, Kalol, and Gandhinagar and Surendranagar cities, Gujarat 211 Hindu Dalit [10]
October 2016 Gandhinagar and Surendranagar, Gujarat 2,000 Hindu dalit or SC) [11][5][10]
May 2017 Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh 850 150 families of Hindu dalit or SC) [12]
14 April 2016 Dadar, Mumbai, Maharashtra 2; Rohit Vemula's mother Radhika Vemula, and brother Raja Vemula Hindu Dalit Prakash Ambedkar converted these persons to Buddhism.[13][14]
1 October 2017 Ahmadabad and Baroda, in Gujarat More than 300 Hindu Dalit [15]
25 December 2016 Deekshabhoomi 5,000 Hindu OBC [16][17]
25 December 2017 Deekshabhoomi 5,000 Hindu OBC, and Christians and Muslims [18][19]
11 April 2018 Shirasgaon, Maharashtra More than 500 Hindu Dalits [20]
29 April 2018 Una, Gujarat 300 - 350 Hindu Dalits [21][22]
2 June 2018 Ladakh Bhavan, Delhi 120 Hindu Dalits People from Haryana[23]
19 October 2018 Pukharayan village, Kanpur Dehat district, Uttar Pradesh More than 10,000 Hindu SC and OBC [24][25]
18 October 2018, on Dhammachakra Pravartan Day Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur, Maharashtra 62,000 Hindus (dalit or SC) Surai Sasai converted all people to Buddhism.[26]
6–8 October 2019, on Dhammachakra Pravartan Day Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur, Maharashtra 67,543 Hindus (dalit or SC) Surai Sasai converted all people to Buddhism.[26][27]
8 October 2019, on Dhamma chakra Pravartan Din Ahmadabad, Mehsana, and Idar (Sambarkantha district) in Gujarat 500 Hindu SC [28]
27 October 2019 Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial, Shahibaug, Ahmadabad, Gujarat 1,500 SC Hindus [29]
14 October 2020 Hathras, Ghaziabad district, Uttar Pradesh 236 Valmiki (SC Hindus) Valmiki (Balmiki) people adopted Buddhism in protest against Hathras case.[30]

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ Gaikwad, Dr. Dnyanraj Kashinath (2016). Mahamanav Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (in Marathi). Kolhapur: Riya Publication. p. 332.
  2. ↑ Gaikwad, Dr. Dnyanraj Kashinath (2016). Mahamanav Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (in Marathi). Kolhapur: Riya Publication. pp. 411 & 412.
  3. ↑ Gaikwad, Dr. Dnyanraj Kashinath (2016). Mahamanav Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (in Marathi). Kolhapur: Riya Publication. pp. 412, 413.
  4. ↑ Gaikwad, Dr. Dnyanraj Kashinath (2016). Mahamanav Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (in Marathi). Kolhapur: Riya Publication. p. 415.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "प्रतिक्रिया म्हणून धर्म त्याग कदापि योग्य नाही". Divya Marathi.
  6. ↑ "50,000 Dalits embrace Buddhism". Buddhism Today. Retrieved 30 August 2007.
  7. ↑ "Hundreds embrace Buddhism in Gulbarga-Bangalore" Archived 2012-10-16 at the Wayback Machine, Times of India
  8. ↑ "राष्ट्रपतींची जात कशाला सांगता?". Divya Marathi.
  9. ↑ "One lakh people convert to Buddhism". The Hindu. 28 May 2007 – via www.thehindu.com.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Hindi News, Latest News in Hindi, Breaking News, हिन्दी समाचार". Dainik Bhaskar.
  11. ↑ दयाल, प्रशांत (11 October 2016). "गुजरात में 'सैकड़ों दलित' बौद्ध हुए". BBC News हिंदी.
  12. ↑ "Dalits still converting to Buddhism, but at a dwindling rate". 17 June 2017.
  13. ↑ "रोहित वेमुला: रोहित वेमुला के परिवार ने अपनाया बौद्ध धर्म - Rohith Vemula's mother and brother converted to Buddhism". Navbharat Times.
  14. ↑ "रोहित के परिवार ने हिंदू धर्म छोड़ा, बने बौद्ध". BBC News हिंदी. 14 April 2016.
  15. ↑ "ashok vijayadashmi: गुजरात: 300 से ज्यादा दलितों ने अपनाया बौद्ध धर्म - over 300 dalits convert to buddhism in gujarat". Navbharat Times.
  16. ↑ "हजारो ओबीसींनी घेतली धम्मदीक्षा | eSakal". www.esakal.com.
  17. ↑ "दीक्षाभूमीवर हिंदू धर्माचा त्याग करून ओबीसींसह हजारोंचा बौद्ध धम्मात प्रवेश". Loksatta. 25 December 2016.
  18. ↑ http://www.archakmanews.com/over-5000-hindus-and-christians-embrace-buddhism-in-maharastras-nagpur/amp/[permanent dead link]
  19. ↑ "हजारों ओबीसी बने बौद्ध" – via www.youtube.com.
  20. ↑ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "बौद्ध धर्म क्यों अपना रहे हैं भारत के दलित? | DW | 30.04.2018". DW.COM.
  21. ↑ "गुजरातमध्ये धर्मांतर! गोरक्षक पीडित ३०० दलितांनी हिंदू धर्म सोडला". 30 April 2018.
  22. ↑ गागडेकर-छारा, रॉक्सी (30 April 2018). "'सन्माना'साठी हिंदू धर्म सोडून ऊना पीडितांचा बौद्ध धम्मात प्रवेश". BBC News मराठी.
  23. ↑ "हरियाणा: सरकार से निराश 120 दलितों ने अपनाया बौद्ध धर्म". hindi.timesnownews.com. Archived from the original on 2019-12-05. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  24. ↑ "Over 10,000 Dalits 'adopt' Buddhism in Kanpur Dehat | Kanpur News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  25. ↑ "10,000 dalits in UP district convert to Buddhism | India News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "दीक्षा घेणाऱ्यांची संख्या हजारोंनी वाढली; दीक्षाभूमीवरील गर्दी मात्र बरीच रोडावली". Divya Marathi.
  27. ↑ Hindi, Dainik Bhaskar (7 October 2019). "55 हजार अनुयायियों ने ली बौद्ध धर्म की दीक्षा,दीक्षाभूमि पर जुटे बौद्ध अनुयायी". दैनिक भास्कर हिंदी.
  28. ↑ "Gujarat: 500 Dalits embrace Buddhism on Vijayadashami". The Indian Express. 9 October 2019.
  29. ↑ "गुजरात में 1500 लोगों ने अपनाया बौद्ध धर्म, कही यह बात". Jansatta. 28 October 2019.
  30. ↑ "यूपी: हाथरस कांड से नाराज बौद्ध बने 236 वाल्मीकि, मनाने पहुंचे Dm, SSP". 21 October 2020.
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