Herbertpur: On the auspicious occasion of Buddha Purnima (Vesak), the Herbertpur-Based Gongkar Tsedup Lhakhang in Dehradun organised a mass feeding programme for more than 3,000 local residents as part of the Ghoton initiative.

According to the organisers, this modest initiative contributes to fulfilling the first two of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s four principal commitments: promoting universal human happiness and fostering inter-religious harmony.

Every year, the Gongkar Tsedup Lhakhang organises similar programmes on Buddha Purnima (Vesak).

On this occasion, Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly Member Muna Singh Chauhan and Lakhanwala Village Panchayat Member Sundar Lal attended as chief guests. Prayers were conducted at the temple, after which the guests were introduced to the shrines and portraits of the successive Dalai Lamas on display.

The event was also attended by the Herbertpur Tibetan Settlement Officer, Chairman of the Local Tibetan Assembly, representatives from local Tibetan civil societies, the monks of Gongkar Tsedup Lhakhang, Tibetan settlers in the region, and the local Buddhist community members. 

Since the time of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama, Gongkar Tsedup Lhakhang has performed the Tsedup (life-prolonging) ritual for successive Dalai Lamas through the practice of White Tara in a chapel at the base of the Potala Palace. This ceremony continued uninterrupted until the political upheaval in Tibet. In exile, the Tsedup ritual was re-established in 2000, and subsequently, with the support of the Private Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a new Tsedup Lhakhang was founded.

– Report filed by Department of Religion and Culture, CTA