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June 3, 2014

China intensifies restriction on religious activities during holy month

The Chinese government has stepped up restrictions on the religious activities of Tibetans as they observe the Buddhist holy month of Saka Dawa, according to a report on the official website of the Tibetan government in exile.

Chinese authorities are preventing devotees and tourists travelling to the Mount Kailash during the holy month of Saka, the website said.

The restrictions come ahead of Saka Dawa festival, which is celebrated on the 15th (full moon) day of the fourth Tibetan month, when hundreds and thousands of Tibetan Buddhists flock to holy sites to offer prayers and engage in meritorious spiritual activities.

The annual festival celebrates the three most important events of the life of Lord Buddha - his birth, enlightenment and parinirvana. Tibetan Buddhists believe during Saka Dawa, the fourth month of the Tibetan Lunar calendar, the karmic results of virtuous and non-virtuous actions are magnified.

With the 15th day of the holy month falling this year on June 13, the Chinese government in the Tibet Autonomous Region has issued orders to its officials not to seek annual leave from April to September this year failing which the officials might lose their jobs, according to the website.

In Dharamsala, the seat of Tibetan government in exile, hundreds of Tibetan Buddhists, including monks and nuns, have been regularly gathering and offering prayers at the Tsuglag-khang, the main Tibetan temple here, from May 29 that marked the beginning of the holy month.

Meanwhile, Tibetans in Tibet have been warned against traveling to India for the Kalachakra initiation in Leh, Ladakh, the website said citing a source. The Chinese government authorities have also stopped issuing new permits or renewals and asked those who already have obtained permits to return them to the authorities.

Tibetans have been warned that they would be denied the themthho, a government issued household registration, if they travelled to India for the Kalachakra to be initiated by the Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Ladakh from July 4.

Restrictions and prohibitions are regularly imposed on religious ceremonies and sensitive anniversaries. Apart from politically sensitive anniversary like March 10 Tibetan Uprising Day, China has also acted with equally heightened vigilance during mass occasions like Losar (Tibetan New Year), Monlam Chenmo (The Great Prayer Festival), Birthday of His Holiness the Dalai lama and the 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, and other similar events.