ELISTA November 30 – The Dalai Lama held a ceremony to consecrate the Kalmyk Khurul temple near Elista, Kalmykia, on Tuesday, an Interfax correspondent reported.
President of the Association of Buddhists of Kalmykia Telo Tulku Rinpoche told reporters that the ceremony meant that the temple had become a true house of gods.
“The consecration amounts to the invitation of the essence of wisdom of Buddhist gods and their dilution in the statues standing in the Khurul. After the ceremony, the statues become something like living Buddhas,” he said.
Following the ceremony, the Dalai Lama read a lecture for pilgrims on a religious subject in the grounds of a Buddhist monastery where the temple stands. The temple was built in 1996.
Dalai Lama’s visit doesn’t signify change in Moscow’s stance on Tibet
The pastoral visit of the Dalai Lama to Russia does not mean there has been any change in Russia’s stance on Tibet, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxiang in Vientiane on Monday.
“This by no means reflects any change in our position on Tibet which is an inseparable part of China, and we fully confirm the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the People’s Republic of China,” he told reporters.
“Our Chinese friends know that,” Lavrov added.
