Times of India
August 26, 2010

KOLKATA (TNN) -- Tibetan spiritual leader, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa,
will be in Kolkata on Thursday to pay tribute to Mother Teresa on her
birth centenary.

The Karmapa is expected to visit Mother House in the afternoon and
offer a floral tribute at the place where Mother Teresa was laid to
rest. In the evening, he will inaugurate a photo exhibition and
attend the Mother's birth centenary celebrations organized by the
Young Men's Welfare Society.

The Karmapa was barely 14 when he succeeded in slipping out of Tibet
into India. He travelled for over a week in a jeep, on foot,
horseback, helicopter, train and taxi to cross the mountains into
Nepal and then India. On January 5, 2000, much to everyone's
surprise, the Karmapa arrived at Dharamshala and met the Dalai Lama.
In 2001, he was granted refugee status by the Government of India.

The Karmapa lives near Dharamshala and has been permitted by the
Indian government to visit Buddhist sites elsewhere in the country.
He makes annual trips to Bodh Gaya and Sarnath where he presides over
important Kagyu ceremonies.