Shuddhi

(“purification”) Any ritual purification
that removes impurities and thus
returns one to a state of ritual purity.
In a more specialized context the
term denotes the “reconversion” back
to Hinduism of people who had
either converted to another religion
or who had adopted practices
characteristic of other religious traditions. This practice was first instituted
in the 1890s by the reformist Arya
Samaj, led by Swami Dayanand
Saraswati. There was a tremendous
stir in the Sikh community when several
Sikhs were a part of a group thus
“purified,” and in Sikh accounts
this threat of reabsorption
into the Hindu community was one
of the major forces behind the Singh
Sabha movement, which defined
the Sikhs as a separate religious community. In modern times this practice has
been employed by the Hindu nationalist
organization Vishva Hindu Parishad,
which has used it to “purify” certain
groups who had adopted some
Islamic practices.
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Shuddhi