17th Karmapa arrives to a ceremonial welcome in Delhi

17th Karmapa arrives to a ceremonial welcome in Delhi
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, FEB 21: Ecstatic Buddhist devotees played traditional music, burnt incense sticks and waved dharma flags to welcome the controversial 17th Gyalwa Karmapa as he arrived in the capital from Dharamsala today enroute to pilgrimage amidst tight security.

The Tibetan boy-monk Ugyen Trinley Dorje, who had escaped to India last January, waved to his followers but did not stop at the Majnu Ka Tila Tibetan settlement, much to their disappointment.

Earlier, the 15-year-old head of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, who is on his way to Varanasi and Bodhgaya on a pilgrimage, was received at the Narela border among others by Lochen Rimpoche, member of the National Commission for Minorities and Lama Labzong, member of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

He was later formally received at the Raddisson Hotel by Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling and his Cabinet colleagues, former Union ministers Ram Jethmalani, Buta Singh and P K Thungon, who presented him with traditional scarfs.

Lensmen and security personnel had heated arguments as the organisers whisked the monk away, despite formal invitations. Later, after an hour-long wait, the Karmapa came to the balcony and waved at the photographers.

The Karmapa will leave for Varanasi tomorrow and will be back in the Capital on March 13, his spokesman said.

Another claimant to the position, Trinlay Thaye Dorje, had arrived in the Capital last week.