Dalai Lama Admitted To Hospital In India For Tests

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:08:14 +0000
Nidhi Sharma - AHN News Writer

Mumbai, India (AHN) - The Dalai Lama was taken to a hospital in India on Thursday after complaining of stomach pain but there is no cause for serious concern, a hospital spokesman said.

A statement posted on the Dalai Lama's official Web site attributed the spiritual leader's discomfort to exhaustion and fatigue. The 73-year-old leader was admitted to Lilivati Hospital in Mumbai. Officials confirmed it was an unscheduled visit.

Tempa Tshering, a representative of the Dalai Lama in Delhi, India, told CNN on Wednesday that the Dalai Lama is now postponing the trips he had scheduled for the next three weeks, and will take some time off in Dharamsala, India, where the Tibetan government-in-exile is based.

The leader of Tibetan Buddhists has been on a gruelling schedule as he campaigned for improved human rights in Tibet. He also inaugurated a Buddhist temple in the south of France last week and met with French First Lady Carla Sarkozy.

The Nobel peace prize winner has cancelled his participation in a worldwide 12-hour fast on Aug. 30 that was meant to seek world attention for improved human rights in Tibet. The fast and prayer session planned for his followers around the world will continue as scheduled without him, his office said.

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