Dalai Lama to visit Nubra Valley

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Phayul
By Phurbu Thinley
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Diskit Monastery Ladakh's Nubra Valley (Photo: Hynek Moravec/file)

Dharamsala, July 19: Exiled Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama will visit forward areas in Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir bordering Tibet this week for religious functions and teachings.

The Dalai Lama will visit Buddhist monasteries in Ladakh’s Nubra Valley to give Buddhist teachings and also to inaugurate a new Maitreya statue at Diskit Monastery, the region's oldest and largest monastery.

According to an announcement on the official website of the Dalai Lama, the Nobel Peace Laureate’s earlier planned visit to the Kargil area from July 18 to 20 has been postponed.

“His Holiness the Dalai Lama is reaching the Nubra Valley in Kargil for a week from July 21 where he will bless his followers and attend religious functions at different monasteries,” Tenzin Taklha, joint secretary at the Dalai Lama’s office, reportedly said.

The official website said His Holiness will begin giving teachings (topic yet to be decided) at Samstanling Monastery in Sumur from July 21 to 22.

On July 23 His Holiness will give the oral transmission of ‘The Diamond Sutra’ (dorje chotpa) at Yarma Gonbo Monastery.

On July 25, His Holiness will lead the blessing ceremony (rabney) of the new Maitreya Statue at Disket Monastery.

And on July 26 and 27 the Dalai Lama will deliver teachings on Geshe Langri Thangpa's 'Eight Verses of Training the Mind' (lojong tsik gyema) and Tsongkhapa's 'The Three Principal Paths' (lamtso namsum) at Diskit Phodrang, the region’s official residence built for the Dalai Lama.

The web announcement said there is, however, no visit to Leh or Zanskar planned in 2010.

Nubra Valley is about 150 km north of Leh, the capital town of Ladakh and is accessible over the Khardung la ( 18,380 ft), one of the highest motorable roads in the world.

This would be the Dalai Lama’s second visit to the state in less than a month. The revered Tibetan leader last month visited Gulabgarh, the only Buddhist-dominated town in the Jammu region.