Dalai Lama begins three-day long teachings in Dharamsala

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

ANI
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The Dalai Lama gestures during a religious talk at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharmsala, India, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against China, leads a self-declared government-in-exile in India. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Dharamsala, Nov. 24: Following his trip to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, Tibetan spiritual leader-in-exile Dalai Lama on Tuesday made his first public appearance and also began his three-day long teachings.

Hundreds of Tibetans expressed their delight to see Dalai Lama preach in Dharamsala.

“Today Dalai Lama is making his first public appearance in Dharamsala after making a successful trip to Tawang. So we are all very happy to see him here,” said Lobsang.

The Dalai Lama has lived in Dharamsala with thousands of his followers ever since they fled their homeland after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

In 1950, the Chinese troops marched into Tibet and occupied it. An estimated 134,000 Tibetans live in exile, a majority of them in India and Nepal.

Tibetans have accused China of repressing the religious aspirations of the Tibetans, specially, the exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

Beijing calls the Dalai Lama a dangerous “splittist” plotting Tibetan independence, a charge he denies. He says he is merely seeking autonomy for Tibet.