Bad weather forces Dalai Lama to delay Tawang visit

His Holiness The Dalai Lama, who was set to reach Tawang today has been forced to change his schedule due to bad weather, and will now reach Bomdila by evening.

The Tibetan Spiritual lead was set to leave Guwahati by a chopper, but the inclement weather has forced him to travel by road and change his stop to Bomdila, where he will make a public appearance tomorrow.

After staying there for two days, he will proceed to Tawang.

After several hours of thundershowers, members of Tibetan refugee community of Monpas and residents of the northwestern town of Arunachal Pradesh were out of their homes to clean the road to welcome their spiritual leader.

Tawang monastery, a place where Dalai Lama is going to stay for next four days is decorated with religious flags and colored clothes with mantras inscribed on them.

In 1959, along with thousands of supporters, the spiritual leader escaped from China and crossed over at Chuthangmu post. On the global stage, China has repeatedly warned India that Dalai Lama's visit would hit the bilateral ties significantly.

Dressed in traditional costumes, around 800 monks will welcome their spiritual leader Dalai Lama in the 400-year-old monastery which is India's largest and world's second largest.

During his visit, he is also expected to hold a religious discourse at the stadium of Tawang's senior secondary school and will also deliver a public talk on 'Secular Ethics and Happiness' at the Kala Wangpo Convention Centre.

On April 9, he will be inaugurating the Thupsung Dhargeyling Monastery. Security arrangements are also deployed by the Arunachal Pradesh Police and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) to avoid any unwelcome tensions.

-ANI