Which religion did Bhimrao Ambedkar embrace in 1956?
Answers
Answer: Buddhism
Explanation: Bhimrao Ambedkar was born on 14 April 1891 . He was born to Ramji Maloji Sakpal , a Subedar in army, and mother Bhimabai Sakpal. He belonged to Mahar (dalit) caste, which were regarded as untouchables and always faced socio-economic discrimination.
Ambedkar thought of converting to Sikhism but soon after his interaction with the leaders of the Sikh community he got an impression that he might not be treated with dignity. He then shifted his focus on Buddhism. During 1950, in order to have an in depth knowledge of the religion he went to Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) to attend the seminar of World Fellowship of Buddhists. During 1954 he travelled twice to Burma. It was during his second trip he attended the 3rd conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists which was held in Rangoon. He founded the Buddhist Society of India.
After meetings with the Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Hammalawa Saddhatissa.On 14th October 1956 he coordinated public ceremony in Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur for his supporters. Ambedkar and his wife completed the process of conversion to Buddhism by accepting the Three Refuges and Five Precepts from Mahasthavir Chandramani ,Buddhist monk. He then went on to convert nearly 500,000 supporters who were present there .