The Dalai Lama will arrive in Bodh Gaya on December 16 on a four-week visit to the holiest place for Buddhists across the world.

Apart from participating in religious rituals and delivering sermons, he will address the inaugural session of a four-day global Buddhist summit at the Mahabodhi Cultural Centre on December 20.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, his Himachal Pradesh counterpart Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and other dignitaries from around two dozen countries will also attend the summit.

“The Dalai Lama’s office has informed us that he will be arriving in Bodh Gaya on December 16 and stay here for 28 days. He will reside at the Tibetan monastery. We are expecting a large number of devotees to attend his discourses. Up to 10,000 devotees from other countries are expected to come to attend his programmes,” Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee member Arvind Kumar Singh told The Telegraph.

Singh added that the Tibetan spiritual leader would address the inaugural session of a special Buddhist summit. Several senior monks will be present with him.

The Dalai Lama’s visit assumes significance in light of the recent warning issued by the Chinese government that his successor should be selected with its permission and from within China’s boundaries.

The spiritual leader known for his pragmatic teachings is expected to visit the Mahabodhi Temple, which marks the place where Siddharth Gautam achieved enlightenment to become the Buddha, every day during his Bodh Gaya stay.

He will deliver sermons from December 29 to 31 on the Kalachakra grounds in Bodh Gaya. The teachings will be on Nagarjuna’s In Praise of Dhammadhatu. He will confer Manjushri empowerment on December 31.