Bad weather forces Dalai Lama to reschedule Tawang trip

Itanagar: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has rescheduled his visit to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh as his chopper could not take off due to inclement weather in the region and will instead reach Bomdila in the state by road from Guwahati on Tuesday.

The Dalai Lama is expected to reach Bomdila in West Kameng district by late evening, his private secretary said.

Tomorrow, the spiritual leader is scheduled to visit Dirang, 14 kilometers from Bomdila and on Thursday he will go to Tawang before visiting Itanagar on April 12.

The Dalai Lama will deliver a discourse at the Buddha Park in Bomdila tomorrow.

On April 6, he will give teachings at Dirang and confer the 'Avalokiteshvara Permission' at Thupsung Dhargyeling Monastery in the morning.

From April 8 to 10, the Dalai Lama will deliver discourses in Tawang.

The Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh comes eight years after his previous visit in 2009.

The previous visit came exactly 50 years after he had passed through the town on his way from Lhasa in Tibet to India.

Amid persistent Chinese objections to the Dalai Lama's trip to Arunachal Pradesh, India said today that no "artificial controversy" should be created around the Tibetan spiritual leader's visit.