Dharamsala, July 24 – The wait for the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinlay Dorjee , who heads the Kagyu Karma sect of Tibetan Buddhists to visit the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim may soon be over as there is a hint from the Centre that he may be allowed to visit the monastery.
Despite a raging controversy about the genuineness of 18-year-old Karmapa, he has been recognised as the head of the Kagyu Karma sect by the Dalai Lama, supreme temporal leader of Tibetan Buddhists. Another faction of the sect claims Trinlay Thaye Dorjee, residing in Kalimpong, West Bengal, to be the head of the sect. Fearing violence at the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, the Centre had denied permission to Dorjee to visit his seat. The Karmapa, who left Tibet in 2000, has been living in the Gyuto Monastery complex at Sidhbari near here. There are restrictions on his movement and he cannot visit Sherabling near Baijnath , an important monastery of the sect .
According to sources close to the Karmapa, a delegation of Buddhist organisations from Sikkim had recently met the security adviser to the Prime Minister, Mr Brajesh Mishra, in New Delhi and had emphasised the need for allowing the 17th Karmapa to take his seat at the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim.
