Final answer:
The washing ritual in the Hindu caste system that restores purity after ritual pollution involves ritual cleansing, such as bathing in sacred baths. These baths were also historically significant in maintaining the societal hierarchy by ensuring purity. Dalits, facing severe caste-based restrictions, could convert to other religions to escape these prescriptions.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the Hindu caste system, the washing ritual that restores purity after ritual pollution is closely tied to religious beliefs and practices. This system, which has now been officially abolished, was historically based on social stratification and associated with religious purity.
According to Hindu beliefs regarding karma and reincarnation, maintaining purity through rituals such as bathing is an important aspect for a person's spiritual progression within the societal hierarchy.
Throughout history, certain large baths like those found at Mohenjo-Daro were likely used for ritual cleansing. These cleansing practices are meant to remove physical and spiritual pollution, allowing individuals to maintain or restore their purity.
Such practices are not unique to Hinduism, with similar purity rituals existing in other religious traditions, like the lustral basins placed at the entrances of sanctuaries for the purification of participants in ancient religious rituals.
For the Dalits, also known as Untouchables, undergoing purification was a way to handle the social restrictions placed upon them due to their association with 'polluting activities.' Conversion to other religions like Christianity, Buddhism, or Islam offered an escape from these rigid caste prescriptions.
However, historically, these ritual baths and the concept of purity played a role in maintaining the caste hierarchy, by culturally embedding the importance of ritualistic cleansing and separation of castes based on their perceived purity.