By Prajnan Bhattacharya
Sarnath, India – Even for Tibetan monks, it was too cold on Tuesday.
Severe, icy wind made the air feel much colder than the recorded temperature of 1°C at Sarnath, the traditional northern India site of the Buddha’s first teaching, and the Dalai Lama told followers to cover their heads.
Tibetan monks normally don’t do that.
‘It’s too cold here, cover yourselves properly’
A cold wave has killed more than 1 600 people across South Asia, with more than half of them dying in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where Sarnath is located.
When the Dalai Lama saw shivering monks bundled up in maroon and saffron robes, sitting on mats for an outdoor ceremonial prayer, he urged common sense over tradition.
“It’s too cold here, cover yourselves properly,” the Tibetan Buddhist leader told about 200 monks at the Dhamekha Stupa, where the Buddha is said to have taught the principles of the religion he founded.
The Dalai Lama himself sat bareheaded and barefoot on a raised wooden throne to conduct the 90-minute prayer for peace at Sarnath, 725km south-east of New Delhi.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet after a failed revolt against Chinese rule in 1959. He was followed by more than 120 000 Tibetan refugees, who settled with him in the northern Indian mountain town of Dharmsala, where Indian authorities have allowed him to set up a government-in-exile.
(SAPA / AP)
