Dharamsala, Dec 31 (IANS) Even as people from India’s northern plains throng to the hill stations to ring in the New Year, one hill settlement is wearing a deserted look.
Dharamsala’s suburb McLeodganj, which is home to a large Tibetan population, has nearly emptied as most of its residents have gone to Bodh Gaya in Bihar.
The Tibetans are in Bodh Gaya to participate in the ‘Kalachakra’ (Wheel of Time) ceremony and pray for world peace. Tibetan leader, His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama will be leading the ceremonies at Bodh Gaya which start Saturday, Dec 31.
Officials of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) told IANS Saturday the Dalai Lama would confer the Kalachakra initiation from Jan 1 to 10. The Kalachakra initiation in Bodh Gaya is taking place after nine years. This would be the 32nd occasion since the Dalai Lama conferred the teachings for the first time in May 1954 at the Norbulingka Palace in Lhasa, Tibet.
‘Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world, including over 1,500 people from Tibet, would participate in the Kalachakra ceremony and listen to discourses by the Dalai Lama,’ the Dalai Lama’s private secretary Chimme Choekyappa told IANS.
Phuntsok Tsering, public relations officer at Norbulingka Institute, an institute set up by CTA on the outskirts of this town to preserve and sell Tibetan artifacts, said most of the artisans and employees of the institute have left for Bodh Gaya.
‘It’s a rare occasion when His Holiness is not only performing a religious ceremony but also giving teachings. Most of our employees have left for Bodh Gaya,’ he said.
The entire locality of McLeodganj, known for selling Tibetan artifacts and savouring traditional recipes like Tibetan dumplings, looks desolated.
Dolma Changra, who sells Tibetan dumplings or ‘momos’ outside the Tsuglagkhang temple, said only the old and sick were left in McLeodganj.
‘Till middle of January, when the ceremony is over, the entire locality will remain deserted,’ she added.
Lhakpa Tsering, manager of Hotel Tibet, a popular Tibetan cuisine restaurant said the number of guests in the hotel have suddenly declined these days. ‘Since most of the Buddhist scholars are in Bodh Gaya, the number of foreigners has also declined,’ he added.
After India allowed the Dalai Lama to settle here, the town became an attraction for Westerners in search of Tibetan culture and spiritual sustenance.
Ngwang Choedak, secretary in CTA’s department of religion and culture, said high lamas of the four sects of Tibetan Buddhism as well as thousands of monks and followers of Buddhism from all over the world would attend the ceremony. ‘It’s a very sacred gathering at a sacred place for a sacred purpose,’ he said.
According to the ceremony organisers, the Kalachakra is held for world peace and for the smooth flourishing of Tibetan Buddhism. The ancient ritual refers to the wheel of time.
(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
