Dalai Lama to address Jammu religious congregation [June 05, 2010 source :PTI]

Jammu, June 5 (PTI) Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama today arrived in Kishtwar district on a two-day visit to address a religious congregation.

The Buddhist leader was received by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at technical airport in Udhampur district from where they left for Gulabgarh in Kishtwar district, where the religious congregation has been organised, officials said.

Dalai Lama would address a gathering of about 16,000 people, including Buddhist leaders from Ladakh and Dharamsala, in an open ground near the centuries-old Lossany Monastery at Gulabgarh, a small Buddhist-dominated town, they said.

He is also scheduled to inaugurate a Buddhist centre at Paddar, the only place in Jammu region where about 7,000 Buddhists live.

The state government has made adequate security arrangements at both Gulabgarh and Paddar areas for the Dalai Lama's first visit to the area, the officials said.