On the occasion of the 33rd birthday of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the Rumtek monastery rose into a grand celebration in front of huge portraits of their spiritual head on Tuesday. This celebration comes out as a call their hope for the visit of the Karmapa who has long been denied permission to visit the state of Kashmir itself.
“In the wake of a verbal assurance from the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh that the Karmapa will be allowed to visit Sikkim soon, the 33rd birthday of the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, was celebrated with great enthusiasm at the Rumtek monastery on Tuesday.” said the report in The Echo of India.
TheTsurpu Labrang, Dharma Chakra Centre Rumtek organized the birthday celebrations which was attended by hundreds of of devotees and followers from across Sikkim and neighbouring Darjeeling and Kalimpong, as well as Bhutan at the Rumtek Monastery which is the main seat of the Karma Kagyu outside Tibet.
The Union Government of India has recently given the approval nod to the request of the people of Sikkim to permit the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje to visit the state. The spiritual leader of Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism who has been residing in United States for the past many months is now free to visit any part of Sikkim except Rumtek.
Prominently seen as the successor to the Dalai Lama, China has been strongly reserved in allowing the spiritual leader to the state. However, it has now been decided by New Delhi irrespective of Chinese reservations to allow the 33 year old to visit the state and bless the followers.
Ogyen Trinley Dorjee was born in Tibet and had escaped to India through Nepal at the age of 14. He reached the Tibetan exile quarters at McLeod Ganj on January 5, 2000 and he presently lives in Dharamsala until recently he has been temporarily staying in the US. He is the first reincarnated lama lineage in the history of Tibetan Buddhism.