Heading to Chaityabhoomi: Pilgrimages of Remembrance

Anna Bochkovskaya

doi:10.3390/rel9040111

Abstract

This article explores individual and collective pilgrimages to the Mumbai-based cremation ground (samādhi) of Bhimrao Ramji (Babasaheb) Ambedkar (1891–1956), a renowned economist and lawyer, academician and philosopher, political leader and social reformer who dedicated his life to the struggle for rights of the untouchables (Dalits) in India. In October 1956, Dr. Ambedkar together with almost half a million of low-caste followers converted to Buddhism. After Babasaheb’s death on 6 December, 1956, his cremation ground became an object of worship for Buddhists and adherents of other religions. In December 1971, on the eve of the 15th year of his demise, the Chaityabhoomi memorial was inaugurated there. A dramatic increase in the number of pilgrims coming from all across India to Dr. Ambedkar’s samādhi as well as to other places associated with him has become instrumental in building up Dalits’ sites of memory/lieux de mémoire in contemporary India. The growing interest to Chaityabhoomi has also acquired a political dimension in contemporary India.

Highlights

Every year in early December, people from different parts of India flock to Mumbai (Bombay) heading to a park located on the Arabian Sea coast
The growing interest to Chaityabhoomi has acquired a political dimension in contemporary India
They arrive well in advance so that in the morning hours of 6 December they can join a queue to the Chaityabhoomi1 memorial housing the ashes of their Messiah: this is the day when hundreds of thousands of former untouchables (Dalits)2 are willing to pay tribute to the memory of Bhimrao Ramji (Babasaheb) Ambedkar

Summary

Introduction

Every year in early December, people from different parts of India flock to Mumbai (Bombay) heading to a park located on the Arabian Sea coast They arrive well in advance so that in the morning hours of 6 December they can join a queue to the Chaityabhoomi (caitya bhūmi) memorial housing the ashes of their Messiah: this is the day when hundreds of thousands of former untouchables (Dalits) are willing to pay tribute to the memory of Bhimrao Ramji (Babasaheb) Ambedkar. Owing to his urge to study and a favorable combination of circumstances, Ambedkar became one of the first untouchables to get access to higher education of superior quality: he studied in prestigious schools and universities of India, the US, Germany, and Great Britain, obtained doctorates in economics and law, and was awarded other degrees He joined India’s politics in the 1920s and soon became an acknowledged leader of the lower castes. A park was set up around the cremation ground, and on 5 December, 1971, on the eve of the 15th year of Maraparinirvana, the Chaityabhoomi memorial was inaugurated there

Ambedkar’s Shrine

Findings

Conclusions