MUMBAI, May 27: About 50,000 Indian low-caste Hindus and people from nomadic tribes converted to Buddhism before a vast crowd on Sunday in the hope of escaping the rigidity of the ancient Hindu caste system and finding a life of dignity.

Monks in orange and saffron robes administered religious vows to the converts as about half a million spectators, mostly Buddhists, cheered the ceremony at a horseracing track in downtown Mumbai.

Some of the converts were low-caste Hindus once considered as “untouchables” by the higher castes, but most were members of India's numerous nomadic tribes.

Many tribesmen had their faces painted and ritually flagellated themselves before being asked by the monks to give up their practices and follow the non-violent path of Buddhism.

“Whatever may have been your religion until now, from today you will take refuge in the teachings of the Lord Buddha,” one told them.

At a signal from the monk conducting the proceedings, the converts, some of them visibly emaciated or carrying babies in their arms, stood up, took off their shoes and with folded hands repeated Buddhist chants.

Hindu scriptures separate people into Brahmin priests, warriors, farmers, labourers, and those beyond definition -- called “Dalits”.

These low-caste Hindus, making up about a sixth of India's 1.1 billion people, were once considered “untouchable”, performing the most menial and degrading jobs.

CULTURAL CHANGE: While the Indian constitution forbids caste discrimination, and spectacular economic success and exposure to western culture have remoulded many social paradigms, the caste system has persisted, above all in villages.