ஆயிரக்கணக்கான மக்கள் புத்தமதம் தழுவினார்கள்

ஆயிரக்கணக்கான மக்கள் புத்தமதம் தழுவினார்கள்

புகைப்படங்களுக்கு இணைப்பை அழுத்துங்கள்.

Mass conversion: Dalits shift faith

Mumbai, May 27 (IANS) Over half a lakh backward class Dalit people converted to Buddhism in a mass ceremony held here Sunday, in the hope of "escaping the rigidity of caste system and finding a life of dignity".



Amid beating of drums and blowing of pipes at the sprawling Mahalaxmi Racecourse ground, about 50,000 people belonging mostly to 42 nomadic tribes and Dalits chanted the sacred "Buddham Sharanam Gachchami" to embrace Buddhism.

The vast racecourse resonated with the chants as Buddhist monks from Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand led the initiation rituals, which were repeated by the followers of B.R. Ambedkar - a champion of the Dalits and a founder father of the Indian constitution - and Buddhists from across the country.



The function was organised to commemorate fifty years of conversion to Buddhism by thousands of followers of Amdbedkar in October 1956.

"Fifty years ago Babasaheb (Ambedkar) had embraced Buddhism in Nagpur with a few thousand followers. Babasaheb had a dream to hold a mass conversion on this very ground two months later. Unfortunately that did not happen as he passed away just 10 days before the scheduled date," Lok Sabha member and Republican Party of India (RPI) chief Ramdas Athavale told IANS on the sidelines of the function.



Similar ceremonies are held across India several times a year, but organisers said this was one of the biggest.

"But today his followers and Buddhists from across the world have made that dream come true by organising a mass conversion programme on the same ground," he added.

Bare-bodied tribals were asked by red and orange-robed monks to give up their primitive practices and follow the non-violent path of Buddhism.

"From today follow the path of non-violence and take refuge in the teachings of the Lord Buddha irrespective of whatever religion you had been following till now," exhorted a Buddhist monk who led the initiation ceremony.