MUMBAI, INDIA, April 28, 2008: The muddy Gavdevi ground at Shimpoli in Borivli (West) was sprinkled with saffron and green on Sunday. In the presence of Narendra Maharaj, chief of the Ramanandcharya Peeth of Nanij in the Konkan, hundreds of men and women, most of them tribals, converted to Hinduism. This is the first such event in the city, and part of the peeth’s massive re-conversion movement started two years ago. Women were clad in green and men wore white dhotis, while the volunteers donned saffron. Those who converted included recently married couples and families from the tribal interiors of Thane and Nashik district. Many men had their heads shaved for the ceremony. Items for the mass ceremony were placed on banana leaves. A four-hour long sacred ritual was carried out to “purify” them, after which they were accepted as Hindus.
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