Kishtwar, June 05: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Saturday arrived in Kishtwar district on a two-day visit to address a religious congregation.
The Buddhist leader was received by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at technical airport in Udhampur district from where they left for Gulabgarh in Kishtwar district, where the religious congregation has been organised, officials said.
Dalai Lama would address a gathering of about 16,000 people, including Buddhist leaders from Ladakh and Dharamsala, in an open ground near the centuries-old Lossany Monastery at Gulabgarh, a small Buddhist-dominated town, they said.
He is also scheduled to inaugurate a Buddhist centre at Paddar, the only place in Jammu region where about 7,000 Buddhists live.
The state government has made adequate security arrangements at both Gulabgarh and Paddar areas for the Dalai Lama’s first visit to the area, the officials said.
State Minister for Tourism and Culture Nawang Rigzin Jora and Minister for Roads and Buildings G M Saroori and other senior officers of the civil and police administration have been deputed to make proper arrangements for the leader, they said.
The congregation has been organised by the Himalayan Buddhist Cultural Society (HBCS), which has also set up the Buddhist centre to be inaugurated by the Lama.
Jigmit Narbo, President of HBCS, said a unique chair costing Rs 3.5 lakh has been brought from Ladakh for the Lama to address the congregation. After he departs on June 6, the chair will be placed inside the building and people could pay obeisance to it.
—-Agencies