By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, October 31: Buddhists from Mongolia and Russian Republics of Kalmykia, Tuva and Buryatia are to hold a major cultural festival in Dharamsala next week followed by a grand long life ceremonial offering to His Holiness the Dalai Lama on November 10.
Next week, some 400 people, including several song and dance troupes, Government officials from the Buddhist states, and press delegations will flock to Dharamsala, the seat of the Dalai Lama led Tibetan Government-in-Exile, for the “Mongolian and Russian Buddhists Festival”.
The festival will begin with opening of an art exhibition on November 6 from 10:00 am at the Tibet museum. “I hope this exhibition will offer an opportunity to the local Indians and Tibetans here to understand Buddhist culture and traditions of Mongolia and the Russian Republics,” said Telo Rinpoche, the spiritual head of Kalmyk Buddhists, speaking at the festival’s press Conference at the Lhakpa Tsering Memorial Hall, Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR), Central Tibetan Administration.
During their week-long stay, the visiting groups will visit various Tibetan cultural and educational institutions in and around Dharamsala and, perform cultural songs and dances, which also include the famed throat singing by professional artists from Tuva Republic.
For public, separate evening concerts are being planned at Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA). There will be Buryat and Tuva concert on November 7, Kalmyk concert on November 8 and Mongolian concert on November 9.
On November 10, following the long life ceremony in the morning, there will be cultural performance at Tsuglagkhang in the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Telo Rinpoche has been the moving force for bringing next week’s joint Buddhists festival to Dharamsala.
An outspoken supporter of the Tibet’s cause, Rinpoche has acted as an ardent crusader for the revival and development of Buddhist culture in Russian Republics, especially in Kalmyk, and Mongolia.
“I hope the coming Buddhists festival will help rejuvenate and revive our centuries-old shared history with Tibet and its people and bridge renewed connection among us,” Telo Rinpoche said.
“By sheer coincidence we will blessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s first public appearance after coming back to Dharamsala from abroad,” Rinpoche told the media gathering in complete ecstasy.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has considered giving one day teaching on November 9 to the visiting Buddhists at the Tsuglag Khang. The teaching will be His Holiness’ first public sermon after coming back to his exile residence from a high-profile visit to United States and Canada during which he was awarded the US Congressional Gold Medal and met publicly with the Canadian Prime Minister. The teaching will be followed by a collective grand long life ceremony for His Holiness by the Buddhists of Mongolia and Russian Republics on the following day.
“His Holiness the Dalai Lama is our spiritual leader as much as he is for Tibetans,” Rinpoche said.
DIIR Information Secretary Mr Thupten Samphel was present with Telo Rinpoche at the press conference.
“We are ever grateful to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government-in-Exile for supporting us in our effort to revive and preserve Buddhist culture in our countries,” Rinpoche said.
“We should be helping Tibetans at this time instead of the other way round. However, we are still in our revival stage,” Rinpoche feels.
“For Tibetans we are Buddhist twin brothers and sisters, and we must always stand by each other at difficult times. I want to remind Tibetans inside Tibet and in exile to remember that we are always there to support you as true twin brothers and sisters. Our bonds are not some 30-40 years old; it dates back to centuries. We faced similar repressions and tragedies as Tibetans are facing from Communist China now. However, we are free from hostile forces now. So, it is time again to revive and strengthen our ancient historical ties and use our influence to support Tibet’s cause. Our younger generations must know of our ancient history and spiritual ties we shared so strongly in the past until we were disconnected by negative fate.”
“We hope through our cultural festival and interactions we will be able to fully revive our ancient historical and spiritual ties,” Telo Rinpoche said.
During the visit, the Buddhists and Press group from the Russian Republics and Mongolia will meet with the Tibetan Prime Minister, Prof. Samdhing Rinpoche.
The press groups are also scheduled to have a separate meeting with His Holiness.
Telo Rinpoche was recognized in the early 1990s by the Dalai Lama as reincarnation of the spiritual leader of the Kalmyk people.
Despite decades of Soviet repression, Buddhism survived in the Buddhist Republics. “We have revived our traditions and our Buddhist cultures and is developing now,” Rinpoche said in his elaborate press briefing here today.
