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Dalai Lama leaves hospital

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has left hospital in the Indian city of Bombay after recovering from a bowel infection.
"I am feeling much better," he told reporters.

He was admitted to Bombay's Lilavati hospital last Sunday.

The Dalai Lama fell ill during a visit to the Indian state of Bihar, where he had been due to take part in Buddhism's largest festival, the Kalchakra (Wheel of Time) at Bodhgaya.

The Dalai Lama, now 66, will continue on medication for a while, doctors say.

"The antibiotic course will continue for some more days. But overall, he is fit and the famous smile is back on his face," said the chief administrator of the hospital, Prakask Mhatre.

The Tibetan spiritual leader is expected to remain in Bombay while he continues to recuperate.

Festival postponed

The Dalai Lama began complaining of stomach pains after arriving in Bihar.


His illness led to the cancellation of ceremonies at the 10-day long Kalchakra festival.

He told his followers he would be unable to sustain rituals which required him to sit still for long periods.

Tens of thousands of people had converged on Bodhgaya for the festival, held at the site where the Buddha is believed to have become enlightened.

Indian exile

The Dalai Lama's personal physician, Tsen Dorji Sadutshang, was quoted last Sunday as saying that acute abdominal pains had first developed in the middle of December and that the problem had persisted, despite treatment with Tibetan and Western remedies.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet with thousands of supporters in 1959, following a failed uprising against China.

Since then, he has headed a government-in-exile in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his non-violent struggle against Chinese rule.


source: ВВС, 02/02/2002