Buddha statue and Buddhist flag, Dalit village

In 1956, the well-known Indian politician BR Ambedkar led a mass conversion of Dalits [once known as 'Untouchables'] from Hinduism to Buddhism. Ambedkar died shortly after his action, but Buddhism remains significant in India. The 2011 census showed nearly 8 million practising Buddhists, out of a total population over one billion. Professors Claude Welch and Jeannette Ludwig appear in the image.

Welch, Claude Emerson

State University of New York at Buffalo

2004-12

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Image

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Indian/Buddhist

Kadalure Village Post, East Coast Road

Tamil Nadu (India)

Welch-Ludwig Collection

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