Buddhism was 2,550 years old in 1956, so it was a notable year of celebration for the Buddhist religious world globally and 14 October was the traditional date of conversion of King Ashoka Maurya, the great Indian Buddhist Monarch and the day is celebrated as Ashok Vijaya Dashmi.[15] He selected Nagpur for his conversion ceremony, as he explained in his speech at that occasion, because Nagpur was the homeland of 'Nag' people who embraced Buddhism, supported it with great efforts in its early period, and propagated it throughout India.[16][17] Ground near the Ramdaspeth area in Nagpur was selected for the ceremony.
