ZAGREB TO HOST TIBETAN CULTURE WEEK ON SEPT. 24-30

ZAGREB, Sept 21 (Hina) - Zagreb will host Tibetan Culture Week between Sept. 24 and 20 on the occasion of a visit the Tibetan spiritual and secular leader, the Dalai Lama, will make to Croatia. The Dalai Lama, who has been invited by the Croatian people, will stay in Croatia on Sept. 20-23, visiting the southern seaport of Split and Zagreb. The event that will acquaint the public with several thousands of years of Tibetan culture has been organised by the Croatian-Tibetan Friendship Society in cooperation with a Zagreb committee set up for the Dalai Lama's visit. The central event of the Tibetan Culture Week will be the making of a sand mandala, the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, which Tibetan monks from the Gyuto tantric monastery in India will be working at the Croatian Painters' Society between Sept. 24 and 30. All other events, including film screenings and lectures, will be held at the Culture Information Centre (KIC). Tibetan Culture Week ends on Sunday, Sept. 30, with the ritual breaking down of the sand mandala, the aim of which is to remind people they should not tie themselves to anything impermanent, even something as beautiful as a sand mandala. The aim of building a mandala is to bring the person looking at it into a state of consciousness creating conditions making the person be kind and compassionate to others. Representatives of Croatian authorities have said earlier the Dalai Lama's visit is of a private nature and that he will not meet with state officials. (hina) ha sb