Dalai Lama departs for K’taka

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama departed from Dharamsala this morning to Bylakuppe Tibetan Settlement in South India for an extended stay. Starting his journey from the Main Tibetan Temple by escort cars, the Dalai Lama was warmly seen off by senior officials of the Central Tibetan Administration, monastics and Tibetan exiles who lined up the roads from the temple to lower Dharamsala to pay their respects.

Hundreds of devotees, including Tibetan monks, nuns, Tibetan exiles and schoolchildren, thronged both sides of the road, holding ceremonial scarves and incense to greet the Dalai Lama and seek his blessings as he embarked on his journey from Gaggal airport.

The leadership of Central Tibetan Administration, including Kalon (Minister) Norzin Dolma of the Department of Information and International Relations, Tibetan Parliamentarians of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, and Secretaries of Central Tibetan Administration, gathered at the courtyard of Dalai Lama’s residence to see kim off.

Officiating Sikyong Kalon (Minister) Tharlam Dolma Changra and Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile formally escorted the Dalai Lama till the Kangra Airport.

The Dalai Lama is expected to return back to Dharamsala on the eve of Losar Tibetan new year in the March this year.

At Gaggal airport, the deputy chief whip of the Congress in Himachal Vidhan Sabha and Congress MLA from Shahpur Kewal Singh Pathania met the Dalai Lama and appraised him about the efforts being made by the state government for making Kangra winter capital of the state.