Dalai Lama to visit Siliguri today

His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be arriving at Siliguri from Sikkim on Thursday to impart teachings at Salugara. He will halt for the night in Siliguri and then depart for Bodh Gaya on Friday.

The religious head of the Tibetans had given a one-day teaching on Gyalsey Thokme Sangpo’s “37 Practices of a Bodhisattva” at the Paljor Stadium in Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim on December 12 on the request of Sikkim state government.

“On December 14, His Holiness will give a general teaching at Sed-Gyued Monastery in Salugara,” stated his official website.

“Devotees who are attending the teaching will have to be seated in the teaching venue by 7 am on Thursday. The entry gates will open at 4:30 am and will be closed by 7 am. There will be three gates,” stated a release from the Sed-Gyued Institute of Buddhist studies.

“While gate 1 is reserved for monks and nuns, VIPs, guests and staff; gate 2 and 3 are for other devotees,” added the release.

“His Holiness will give a public teaching followed by a ceremony for the Generation of Bodhichitta. We are expecting around 20,000 devotees to attend from Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Sikkim, North East states, Nepal and Bhutan,” stated GT Bhutia, president, Kangyur Buddhist Association, Darjeeling.