Navayana

Navayana ( navayana, ‘new vehicle’) refers to the idea that a Buddhist movement may represent a new yana, i.e. major branch of Buddhism, in addition to the traditionally recognized branches of Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. This status has been claimed both for the Dalit Buddhist movement as well as Western Buddhism.

The Dalit Buddhist movement (dubbed as Navayana by certain Ambedkerites) is a 19th and 20th-century Buddhist revival movement in India. It received its most substantial impetus from B. R. Ambedkar's call for the conversion of Dalits to Buddhism, in 1956, to escape a caste-based society that considered them to be the lowest in the hierarchy. Ambedkar saw Buddhism as a means to end the caste system in India.