A PILGRIMAGE TO CHAITYABHOOMI

MAHAPARINIRVAN DIWAS | Lakhs converge at Dr Ambedkar's memorial at Shivaji Park to pay tributes

- Manoj Ramakrishnan

Long streams of people, mostly dressed in white and blue with occasional splashes of other colours, flowed to Chaityabhoomi in Dadar on Friday to pay their respects on Mahaparinirvan Diwas. They came from across India, from villages and towns hundreds of kilometres away, hitching rides on crowded trains, buses and vans, and sometimes trudging on foot.

A divine journey

Many had been travelling for days, like the eight men, women and children from Ambetakli village in Buldhana district. They had started their journey on Wednesday. For many, the trip to Chaityabhoomi is an annual pilgrimage. This is the eighth visit to Chaityabhoomi for 58-year-old Kesharbai Dable, a member of Samata Sainik Dal, a group of social workers.

Prasanjit Ambore, an eighth-standard student and a group member from Ambetakli, was on his first visit to Mumbai. "This is the place where he died. We have been taught about him at school and I wanted to visit his Samadhi," he said.