Buddhists from abroad attend Dalai Lama’s 2-day teachings at Tibetan temple in McLeodganj

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, September 5

The Dalai today started his two-day teachings on Chandrakirti’s Entering the Middle Way today at main Tibetan temple in McLeodganj. The teachings were being held on the request of Buddhists from South East Asian countries.

A large group of foreign tourists have come to McLeodganj to attend the teaching. Sources here said that over 200 Buddhists from Vietnam have come to attend the teachings. Besides, tourists from other South East Asian countries, Russia and Israel have come for the teachings.

Sanjeev Gandhi, general secretary of the Smart City Dharamsala Hotel and Restaurant Association, said that buzz was back at the McLeodganj market due to the teachings of the Dalai Lama. Most of the hotels around the Dalai Lama temple had good occupancy for a few days. However, overall the total occupancy of hotels in the region was less than 20 per cent, he said.

Kunal Sharma, another hotelier, said that it was good to see foreign tourists back in the region after almost two months when the hotel and restaurant occupancy in the region had dropped to a naught. Though there was not much damage in Kangra district due to rains and roads remained open for traffic throughout the rainy season, news of disaster in other regions of state has severely impacted tourism in the region, he said.

Navneet Thakur, a hotelier, said that Dharamsala was known as an attraction for foreign tourists. Most of them used to come here to visit the institutions of the Tibetan government in exile and the Dalai Lama. Some areas in Dharamsala as Dharamkot were known for being long time abodes of tourists from Israel. Dharamkot was also known as Little Israel.

The Dalai Lama is scheduled to hold another teaching in Dharamsala in the month of October.