THE DELHI DURBAR
a visit to India at this particular juncture. There were many reasons to make such a departure desirable and in addition he, a high dignitary of the Buddhist Church and considered by a certain faction in Tibet the superior even of the Delai Lama, would have an opportunity at the same time of visiting the Buddhist shrines in India which must necessarily be of great interest to him.
Government adopted my views and eventually issued the necessary invitations, which were accepted.
It was quite a new departure, as none of the chiefs on this frontier had ever before left their mountain homes, nor had they, with the exception of one short visit of the Maharaja of Sikhim to Darjeeling, been guests of the Indian Government, neither had any high Tibetan lama before visited India.
The arrangements for their entertainment were somewhat complicated by the fact that as Buddhists and without caste prejudices as to food, everything had to be provided for them, and although an attempt was made to limit the number of followers in their various suites, the total retinue of the three chiefs mounted up to an astounding figure. They were an extraordinary collection of wild, only partly civilised creatures, especially those from Tibet, and most picturesque. The Government Official Guest House, Hastings House, Alipur, was placed at their disposal, as well as a second house in the grounds, and in addition separate camps were pitched in the compound. Water, both for drinking and washing purposes, was laid on to each camp and the tents and grounds were lighted by electricity, lamps were quite out of the question as the camp would certainly have been burnt down had they been used; police arrangements were very necessary, and carriages and means of transport had to be provided for the use of the chiefs and their following. The arrangement of all the details meant a great deal of work and correspondence, and a visit in advance to Calcutta to discuss
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