Braving the winter chill, thousands of Tibetans and locals on Sunday lined up along the roads leading to the Tawang Monastery and gave a rousing reception to the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who arrived here on a four-day visit.

After his arrival here by a helicopter from Guwahati, the 74-year-old Dalai Lama, accompanied by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Kandu, was welcomed by cheering Tibetans as he drove along the 10-km stretch from the helipad to the 400-year-old Tawang Monastery.

The Dalai Lama's cavalcade stopped at three places -- old market, Manjusree Vidyapeeth and new market -- as the spiritual leader blessed the people who greeted him. Nestled in the snow-capped mountains and perched at a height of 10,000 feet, this town wears a festive look with colourful posters with the Dalai Lama's pictures and Tibetan and Indian flags flying everywhere.

Buildings and houses have been given a fresh coat of paint and streets and localities cleaned to mark the occasion. The Dalai Lama's cavalcade took more than 45 minutes to reach the Tawang Monastery from the helipad.

The Tibetan spiritual leader, who is here for the first time since 2003, inaugurated a museum inside the Tawang Monastery. The museum named 'Gadenmamgyallhatsa' contains historic scriptures of the Buddhist faith.

Soon after the inauguration, Dalai Lama was taken in a procession from the entrance to duakkan that was attended by 700 Buddhist monks. Accompanied by Kandu and another spiritual leader P G Rinpcohe, the Dalai Lama went into to the duakkan to offer prayers.

... contd.