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ARLEE - The Buddhist community of Ewam in Arlee held a special ceremony on Tuesday evening to celebrate the Dalai Lama's 75th birthday as dozens of followers gathered to pray with visiting monks from Mongolia and Bhutan.

The special guests traveled to Montana to visit Ewam's Garden of 1,000 Buddha's, which will be consecrated by the Dalai Lama once it is completed.

The group marked His Holiness' birthday with traditional chanting and offerings, while also including a Western custom of serving birthday cake.

Members say that the Dalai Lama receives thousands of invitations every month and accepts very few, so they are thrilled that he decided to come to Western Montana.

"He feels it is very special and very timely and necessary that we create this pilgrimage site and a place for people to gather in peace," explained Georgia Milan who's on the Ewam Board of Directors.

The Ewam community hopes to make the garden an international destination for people of all faiths. Around 600 of the Buddha statues have been completed so far, and organizers say they need to raise another $300,000 to finish the project.