List of Buddhist conversions in India

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

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]