Buddhist ritual attracts devotees and tourists to Gansu province

A grand Buddhist ritual, offered by the 11th Panchen Lama's guru Jamyang Gaytso, attracted thousands of devotees and tourists in Northwest China's Gansu province.

The four-day ritual started Saturday in Xiahe county, home to Labrang Monastery -- one of the six major Gelugpa monasteries in China. More than 110,000 Tibetan Buddhism devotees and tourists from Gansu, Sichuan, Qinghai, Tibet and Yunnan attended it on the first day.

The ritual was organized at the request of local devotees and approved by the provincial religious authorities. Some 500 government employees were mobilized to serve the ritual and help ensure the traffic order, food safety, medical service and materials supply.

Kalachakra, which means the wheel of time, is a key ritual of the Gelugpa sect of the Tibetan Buddhism.

Jamyang Gyatso, a native of Xiahe, entered Labrang Monastery at the age of eight. He earned the Gesi title, bestowed only to masters of Tibetan Buddhism, and was chosen in 1998 to guide the Buddhist studies of the 11th Panchen Lama.