Revival of Buddhism in India by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar with Buddha at Rajgruha, his house in Mumbai, India

Several attempts were made to revive Buddhism in India. The most significant was undertaken by Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1851 – 1956), lawyer, social-reformer, leader of the Dalits (formerly known as untouchables, who are at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy) and the father of the Indian Constitution. He was a Dalit himself.

Buddhism - a social and political revolution

In October 1956 he converted to Buddhism along with 500’000 others in Nagpur, a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. For him Buddhism, unlike Hinduism, was based on equality. In his treatise “Revolution and Counter Revolution in Ancient India” Ambedkar wrote: “Buddhism was a revolution. It was as great a Revolution as the French Revolution. Though it began as religious revolution, it became more than a religious revolution. It became a Social and Political Revolution.”

Chaitya Bhoomi - the Buddhist memorial site of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

I visited Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s much revered memorial site, known as Chaitya Bhoomi in Mumbai. See my YouTube-video “A Buddha from Chaitya Bhoomi”: