The Dalai Lama’s Gyuto Monks will be paying a visit to the Highlands this weekend because they have been told the scenery will remind them of Tibet.
The monks, who went down a storm at Glastonbury Festival, will be performing at Ballachulish Village Hall in Lochaber tomorrow evening.
Unable to build a sustainable life in India, the monks, who live as refuges in Dharamsala, travel to demonstrate their tantric arts of chanting, sand mandala creation, butter sculpture and ritual and ceremony.
They have just complete a three-day programme at the Centre for Contemporary Arts and decided to fit in a whistle-stop visit to Glencoe and Ballachulish before driving back down to London for their final performance in the UK before flying out to Australia.
A spokeswoman for the monks said: “They’ve been told the mountains and lochs are just like Tibet.
“One of their managers has friends in the village and worked and lived there many years ago. Her children were born in Inverness and, while living these days in Australia, she was keen to show the monks her little Tibet in Scotland.
“So it’s likely to be a happy and somewhat emotional experience for all.”
She added that there would be no entry fee for the Ballachulish event, which will run from 7pm to 8pm, but donations to help their 500 monks back in India would be much appreciated.
