By IANS,
Dharamsala : Hundreds of Tibetan exiles Thursday assembled in this Himachal Pradesh town for a special prayer service for Dorjee Khandu, the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister, who, along with four others, died in a helicopter crash.
The prayer service, organised by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), was held at the hill-top Tsuglagkhang temple close to the official palace of the Dalai Lama at McLeodganj.
A CTA spokesperson told IANS that the Namgyal monastery’s abbot led the prayer service which was attended by hundreds of Tibetans. “They prayed for the well-being of the late chief minister’s family and others who died in the accident.”
However, the Dalai Lama was not present here as he was away to the US.
The Tibetan parliament-in-exile in a condolence message Wednesday, said: “The state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Tibetan people have had historical relationship, which was further strengthened and deepened during the tenure of Khandu’s chief ministership.”
The Nobel laureate had visited Arunachal at the invitation of Khandu in November 2009. He inaugurated a hospital there for which he contributed Rs.2 million.