Dharamsala, January 23: His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived Dharamsala, his exile base in India, yesterday after successfully completing 23-day long visit covering different places in India.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the former Indian President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam were the chief guests at the formal launch of the Global Foundation for Civilisational Harmony [India] (GFCH) in Delhi yesterday before the Tibetan leader returned to Dharamsala.

The Dalai Lama had earlier left his exile seat on December 31, shortly after conducting a five-day teaching at the request of Mongolian Buddhists.

During the 23-day tour, His Holiness attended various events, giving teachings and delivering series of lectures in Mungod, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi.

The first leg of His Holiness' journey took him to the Tibetan settlement in Mungod, South India where His Holiness gave teachings from 3 to 13 January 2008. During the teaching His Holiness was presented with auspicious offering by the Central Tibetan Administration to express its gratitude to the great service His Holiness has rendered to the Tibetan people in particular and world in general.

On 14 January His Holiness conferred long life empowerment to the devotees followed by long life offering ceremony for His Holiness.

His Holiness left Mungod on 16 January and arrived in Bangalore where His Holiness visited Sera Je Monastery's temple and later attended 77 birthday celebrations for Indian leader George Frenandes.

His Holiness then left for Ahmedabad on 18 January to launch the Tibet Festival jointly organised by the Department of Information and International Relations of the Central Tibetan Administration, Kanoria Centre for Arts, Darpana Academy and Alliance France d'Ahmedabad.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama addressed the students and faculty members of the famed Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad on business and ethics on 18 January.

On 19 January His Holiness spoke on Globalisation and World Peace at the Gujurat Vidyapeeth University. On the same day, He also addressed the Tibetan community living in Gujurat and Rajasthan.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama left Ahmedabad on 20 January for Delhi and on 21 January, His Holiness gave a public talk on 'Ethics and Human Values' to a packed audience at the Delhi University's Convention Hall .

His Holiness was the chief guest along with the former Indian President for the formal launch of the Global Foundation for Civilisational Harmony [India] on Tuesday morning and arrived in Dharamsala later in the afternoon.

With additional information from Tibet.net