Dalai Lama returns to Indian headquarters after knee replacement surgery in the US

Associated Press

DHARAMSHALA, India (AP) — The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has returned to the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile in northern India after undergoing a knee replacement surgery in New York. Hundreds of followers in colorful flowing robes on Wednesday cheered the Dalai Lama at the airport and his residence, and several performed traditional dances. Tibetan and Buddhist flags adorned poles and railings. The Dalai Lama, 89, flew to Dharamshala after weeks of recovery at the Nappi Farmhouse in Syracuse, New York, following the surgery on June 28. The Dalai Lama has made Dharamshala, the hillside town in northern India, his headquarters since fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. Representatives of a Tibetan government-in-exile also reside there.