Dalai Lama in Tawang: Bhutanese people climb mountains to listen to the monk
From affluent businessmen to daily wage earners, people from all walks of life climbed mountains and walked down all the way to Tawang in Arunachal to listen to Dalai Lama.
In Short
- People from all walks of life climbed mountains and walked all the way to Tawang.
- A labourer walked down with his family and it took him 2 days.
- Bhutanese people have been given the category of foreigners in the seating area.
While Dalai Lama's Arunachal Pradesh tour is being watched closely by China there are over 3,000 people from Bhutan who have come to Tawang to hear the sermons of the Buddhist monk.
From affluent businessmen to daily wage earners, people from all walks of life climbed mountains and walked down all the way to Tawang in Arunachal to listen to Dalai Lama.
Jhikmy Tengpa (34) climbed mountains to reach Tawang and it took him almost two days. A labourer in Bhutan, Tengpav has come with his wife and two kids and wants to make sure that his family gets to meet Dalai Lama. This is not his first visit here.
"We have walked down to Tawang and it took us two days from Bhutan. I have come with my family to listen to Dalai Lama's preaching and seek his blessings. It is because of his blessings that I am able to take care of my family," Tengpa said.
Another Dalai Lama follower from Bhutan, Srinpaldin is happy she could make it to Tawang as they don't get to listen to him there. "My brother told me Dalai Lama is coming to Tawang so I have come from Bhutan because we don't get a chance to hear him there. We have heard him in the past as well but not in a live gathering," she said.
The Bhutanese people have been given the category of foreigners in the seating area set up in a higher secondary school playground in Tawang.
"I have come from east Bhutan. We are a big group who have come to seek Dalai Lama's blessings," said Kezang Cheton, a businesswoman in east Bhutan.
Her companion Krisen Wangwo, a homemaker, is elated to see Dalai Lama in person. "It is the first time that I am listening and meeting our Lama. I have heard him before but never seen or met him. It is a wonderful feeling," said Wangwo.
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