The boy head of one of the four great sects of Tibetan Buddhism is recovering in the north Indian town of Dharamsala after an epic trek through the snows of the Himalayas. His flight is being seen as one of the most significant defections from Chinese-ruled Tibet in decades.
The 17th Karmapa fled communist-controlled Tibet towards the end of last year and arrived on Wednesday in Dharamsala, the seat in exile of the Dalai Lama.
"His Holiness has escaped from Tibet," said Tenzin Namgyal, a monk and follower of the Karmapa, last night. "He is very tired but he is fine. He's doing OK."
The 14-year-old lama had an audience with the Dalai Lama soon after he and his four attendants stumbled into Dharamsala on Wednesday morning. It is clear that neither the Indian authorities nor the exiled Tibetan monks here were expecting the Karmapa's arrival.
The young lama is being sheltered from visitors until Indian officialdom has regularised his position. He is staying at Chonor House, a Tibetan guesthouse near the residence of the Dalai Lama. Indian plainclothes security men with walkie-talkies were last night in evidence at the guesthouse.
The Chinese, who had been rearing him as a "patriotic" tool in their 50-year campaign to suppress Tibetan independence, will be enraged at losing a religious leader of such eminence.
"He's a refugee and left without a passport," explained Tenzin Namgyal, who walked two hours from his monastery to see his young master. Aware of the sensitivity of the Karmapa's presence on Indian soil, Namgyal La would be drawn no further.
Known as Little Tibet, the hill station of Dharamsala is home to about 1,000 exiled Tibetan monks and followers of Tibetan Buddhism. The monks in their maroon robes are to be seen everywhere in the streets of the busy bazaar town. Its association with Tibetan Buddhism also makes it a destination for Western tourists and backpackers.
"The people here are very joyous at the arrival of the Karmapa," said Tenzin Taklha, deputy secretary at the office of the Dalai Lama. "The Karmapa is a very important and holy person."
It is not clear how the Karmapa started his journey from his monastery. He is understood to have travelled much of the route on foot. The distance is estimated at somewhere between 650 and 900 miles.
The arduous trek through inhospitable terrain can take many weeks to cover. The Karmapa's followers say he travelled the distance in just over a week, crossing mountain passes in heavy snow.
The young Karmapa is head of the influential Kagyupa sect, also known as the "Black Hat" sect. Once Tibet's most politically powerful sect, it was one of the first to gain Western devotees in large numbers.