11th Panchen Lama visits Lhasa temple

　　LHASA, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The 11th Panchen Lama visited Jokhang Temple, the most renowned monastery in Lhasa, capital city of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region early Wednesday.

　　The 19-year-old was greeted by lamas dressed in their traditional red robes, holding Tibetan incense, prayer flags and khatag, a kind of long piece of silk used by Tibetans for blessings.

　　The 11th Panchen Lama visits the Jokhang Temple, the most renowned monastery in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, to pay homage and present hada (a piece of silk used as a greeting gift among the Tibetans and Mongolians) to the statues of Buddhas July 15, 2009.(Xinhua/Jue Guo)

　　The 11th Panchen Lama visited halls of the temple, paid homage and presented khatag to the statues of Buddhas.

　　He also led a 30-minute sutra chanting ceremony, where he and lamas in the temple prayed for the prosperity and stability of the country and a bumper harvest. After the ceremony, a head-touching ritual was held to bless lamas in the monastery.

　　At a meeting with Zhang Qingli, secretary of the Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China, he said Lhasa had undergone great changes since he last visited two years ago.

　　The 11th Panchen Lama arrived in Lhasa on Tuesday.

　　One of the two most senior living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, the 11th Panchen Lama gave a speech in English at the opening ceremony of the second World Buddhist Forum in Wuxi in March, impressing many.

　　"What I have achieved is too trivial to mention. I still have along way to go. I will make my best endeavors to contribute to the reunification of the motherland, the unity of all ethnic groups, the people's livelihood, the spread of Buddhism and the world peace," he said.