Tibetan exiles in India hail Dalai Lama's visit to Tawang - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The visit of the Tibetan spiritual guru the Dalai Lama to Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, has generated a lot of enthusiasm among the locals and Tibetans exiles in India. On Sunday, the Dalai Lama was welcomed by thousands of people lining the road to Tawang -- which is home to the Monpa people who practice Tibetan Buddhism. In 1959, The Dalai Lama passed through the same village, a remote Buddhist enclave nestled in the icy folds of the eastern Himalayas while trying to flee Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. "For me, I think this visit is very important, especially, for the people of Tawang, because, predominantly it is Buddhist area. So, it is very important in Tibetan Buddhism that the disciples meet their Lama. And, people are so happy as we have seen in news, and this is what I believe is very successful and I very much thank Indian government for allowing his holiness to Tawang," said Tenzin Choeying, young Tibetan activist in-exile. Young Tibetan freedom activists look this successful visit of their spiritual leader as a positive indication for the Tibetan freedom struggle in future. "I think I am really proud that this time India stood up to its belief and let his holiness travel to Tawang even if ether's was a lot of pressure from Chinese government side. I am really proud of India standing on its belief, for its belief," said Tenzin Chodon, another Tibetan activist. Beijing sees the visit as encouraging the Tibetan struggle by undermining Chinese territorial integrity and has slammed it as the Dalai Lama's "scheme to wreck China's relations" with India. But the Tibetan leader says it is merely a spiritual lecture tour. Beijing calls the Dalai Lama a dangerous "splittist" plotting Tibetan independence, a charge he denies. He says he is merely seeking autonomy for Tibet . Tawang, is the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama and part of territory Beijing considers as "southern" Tibet . It is at the heart of the border dispute. For the local residents and thousands of other Buddhist followers who traveled for days to get a glimpse of their revered leader, it was a moment of spiritual bliss.