Dalai Lama Begins Ceremonial Visit In Mongolia
Published: Tuesday, 22 August, 2006
Ulan
Bator, Mongolia, 22 August 2006 (AP) — The Dalai Lama began visits to Buddhist sites in
Mongolia on Tuesday on a trip aimed at shoring up Tibet's traditional
links with the landlocked nation.
China, which accuses the exiled leader of being a separatist troublemaker, protested his last trip to the country but has yet to issue an official statement on his current visit, his seventh since 1979.
The Dalai Lama's schedule called on him first to attend ceremonies at Mongolia's largest monastery, Gandantegcheling, in the capital Ulan Bator.
Ahead of his visit, monks there had been practicing processing with flags, cymbals and 10-foot-long brass horns, sprucing up paint work and drawing religious symbols in the pavement surrounding the squat, whitewashed brick temple building.
Also during the visit, the Dalai Lama was due to hold a lecture in Ulan Bator's main stadium and spend two days in meetings with Mongolian Buddhist clergy in an effort to resolve factional disputes.
The Dalai Lama is widely revered in Mongolia, whose people have strong historical links to Tibet and have traditionally followed Tibet's esoteric school of Buddhism. His visits have been credited with helping revive Buddhist institutions that were all but wiped out over six decades of communism.
The Dalai Lama arrived late Monday aboard a chartered Mongolian Airlines flight from Tokyo and was driven by police motorcade to a secluded compound about 45 miles outside the capital city of Ulan Bator, where he will stay during his visit.
Among a small group of faithful awaiting him, Dashdulam, an elderly Mongolian woman in a traditional orange tunic said the visit was the fulfillment of a long-held wish.
"I want to attend his events just to be close to him," Dashdulam said.
Organizers of the visit have kept the Dalai Lama's travel schedule under tight wraps in an attempt to avoid angering Beijing, which cut off rail links with Mongolia for two days in 2002 in apparent retaliation for his last visit.
It wasn't clear whether the Dalai Lama would be received by President Nambaryn Enkhbayar or other top leaders.
China routinely calls on countries not to let the Dalai Lama visit, often hinting at possible diplomatic or commercial retaliation. Recent statements in Communist Party media have criticized such trips as an effort to rally anti-China forces and realize Tibetan independence.
Beijing claims to have ruled Tibet for centuries, though the country was effectively independent when communist troops arrived in 1950.
The Dalai Lama fled to India following an abortive 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. A recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, he travels widely as a speaker on religion and morality and a representative of Tibetan culture.
China, which accuses the exiled leader of being a separatist troublemaker, protested his last trip to the country but has yet to issue an official statement on his current visit, his seventh since 1979.
The Dalai Lama's schedule called on him first to attend ceremonies at Mongolia's largest monastery, Gandantegcheling, in the capital Ulan Bator.
Ahead of his visit, monks there had been practicing processing with flags, cymbals and 10-foot-long brass horns, sprucing up paint work and drawing religious symbols in the pavement surrounding the squat, whitewashed brick temple building.
Also during the visit, the Dalai Lama was due to hold a lecture in Ulan Bator's main stadium and spend two days in meetings with Mongolian Buddhist clergy in an effort to resolve factional disputes.
The Dalai Lama is widely revered in Mongolia, whose people have strong historical links to Tibet and have traditionally followed Tibet's esoteric school of Buddhism. His visits have been credited with helping revive Buddhist institutions that were all but wiped out over six decades of communism.
The Dalai Lama arrived late Monday aboard a chartered Mongolian Airlines flight from Tokyo and was driven by police motorcade to a secluded compound about 45 miles outside the capital city of Ulan Bator, where he will stay during his visit.
Among a small group of faithful awaiting him, Dashdulam, an elderly Mongolian woman in a traditional orange tunic said the visit was the fulfillment of a long-held wish.
"I want to attend his events just to be close to him," Dashdulam said.
Organizers of the visit have kept the Dalai Lama's travel schedule under tight wraps in an attempt to avoid angering Beijing, which cut off rail links with Mongolia for two days in 2002 in apparent retaliation for his last visit.
It wasn't clear whether the Dalai Lama would be received by President Nambaryn Enkhbayar or other top leaders.
China routinely calls on countries not to let the Dalai Lama visit, often hinting at possible diplomatic or commercial retaliation. Recent statements in Communist Party media have criticized such trips as an effort to rally anti-China forces and realize Tibetan independence.
Beijing claims to have ruled Tibet for centuries, though the country was effectively independent when communist troops arrived in 1950.
The Dalai Lama fled to India following an abortive 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. A recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, he travels widely as a speaker on religion and morality and a representative of Tibetan culture.
