Crowds gather to hear Dalai Lama on 'Day of Offerings'

The Dalai Lama attended at a public gathering on Saturday at the Dalai Lama temple in India's northern Himachal Pradesh state.

An estimated 8000 people had all gathered to hear His Holiness the Dalai Lama as he gives his customary discourse on the ‘Day of Offerings’, the full-moon day of the first month of the Tibetan New Year and the culmination of the Great Prayer Festival. The tradition of recognizing the Dalai Lama as spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism began more than six centuries ago in Tibet, according to the official website of the Dalai Lama.