Dalai Lama arrives in Nagpur

* The Buddhist spiritual leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient will stay at Nagaloka Centre on Thursday, and will address a public meeting at Bhandara on Friday, before proceeding to two-day visit to Gothangaon

Staff Reporter
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, arrived in the Orange City on Wednesday. He was welcomed with showering of Rose petals on his convoy at Indora Square here.
The Dalai Lama, who is on Vidarbha tour, arrived in the city from Himachal Pradesh via Mumbai in a chartered plane at 4.35 pm. From the airport, he proceeded straight to Nagaloka Centre situated on Kamptee Road. The Buddhist spiritual leader arrived in Vidarbha after a few years. Last time, he had visited Vidarbha to meet revered social worker late Baba Amte at Anandvan, Warora in Chandrapur district.
As soon as the news about his arrival at the airport spread, scores of Buddhist followers gathered at Indora Square from where his motorcade was to proceed towards Nagaloka Centre. They wanted to felicitate him and get his blessings. However, for security reasons, his motorcade did not stop at the busy Indora Square. School children and scores of followers welcomed him by showering Rose petals on his motorcade. Upasak and Upasika from Buddha Vihara were wearing white robes and followers were waving Panchsheel Dhwaj. Many released balloons in air when Dalai Lama’s motorcade arrived at Indora Square. His Holiness Dalai Lama waved at his followers from within the bullet-proof four-wheeler.
Rajan Waghmare, Raja Dronkar, Snaghpal Upre, Jayant Tembhurkar, Kalpana Dronkar, Mahananda Wankhede, Maya Nagarkar, Chhaya Wankhede, Shekhar Patil, Mama Kosamkar, Lala Tembhurne, Feroze Indurkar, Sushila Gharde, Yamini Deokar, Nina Deshpande, Varsha Meshram, Amma (from Romania), and countless others gathered at Indora Square to accord a warm welcome to the Dalai Lama.




His Holiness the Dalai Lama got a rousing welcome at Indora Square in Nagpur on Wednesday, January 8, 2014. (Photo courtesy: Satish Raut)

The Lama is accompanied by several Tibetan monks. On Wednesday night, His Holiness Dalai Lama took rest at Nagaloka Centre. Some of the Buddhist leaders tried to meet him and request him to pay a brief visit to Deekshabhoomi at 8 am on Thursday. He will deliver his sermon from 8.30 am at Nagaloka Centre on Thursday. Later in the day, he will leave for Bhandara at 4 pm.
On Friday, the Dalai Lama will address a public meeting organised at Chhatrapati Shivaji Stadium, Bhandara, at 10 am. After the meeting, he will proceed to Tibetan settlement at Gothangaon. There, he will stay for next two days. On January 11 and 12, a Mahapuja is scheduled to be held at Gothangaon. On January 13, he will proceed to Raipur in adjoining state of Chhattisgarh.
The recipient of Nobel Peace Prize (1989) for his non-violent struggle for liberation of Tibet, the Dalai Lama has been a strong advocate of non-violence even in the face of extreme aggression. He is the first Nobel Laureate to be recognised for his concern for global environmental problems. He has travelled to more than 67 countries spanning six continents. He has also authored or co-authored more than 110 books. His Holiness has held dialogues with heads of different religions and participated in many events promoting inter-religious harmony and understanding. His interaction with modern scientists since mid-1980s has led to introduction of modern science in traditional curriculum of Tibetan monastic institutions re-established in exile.
On March 14, 2011, His Holiness Dalai Lama sent a letter to the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies (Tibetan Parliament in Exile) requesting them to devolve him of his temporal (political) power. On May 29, 2011, he signed into law the formal transfer of his temporal power to democratically elected leader. This brought to an end 368-year-old tradition of the Dalai Lama being both spiritual and temporal head of Tibet. 

(Published in The Hitavada CityLine on January 9, 2014)

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