SYDNEY, Sept 19 AAP - The Dalai Lama will spend today here preparing for the nine-day Buddhist spiritual healing ceremony, Kalachakra, beginning at the Hordern Pavilion on Saturday.

Among those at Sydney airport to greet him last night was the five-year-old great-grandson of sherpa Tensing Norgay - who climbed Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953.

Pasang Tensing and seven-year-old Dechen Dadul gave a traditional offering as he arrived at the Sydney airport terminal from Canberra.

He was also welcomed during the short ceremony by senior lama Zopa Rinpoche and a throng of Tibetan and Australian supporters.

The Tibetan leader, who is expected to meet Prime Minister John Howard during his visit, smiled broadly but did not speak to the waiting media or the public.

Tour organisers said this was the first time the Kalachakra or "Wheel of Time" ceremony had been held in the southern hemisphere.

Highlights of the event will be the construction of a large and intricate, multi-coloured sand mandala and ritual dancing performed by Buddhist monks.

Since being forced to leave Tibet after the Chinese invasion of the Himalayan country in 1959, the Dalai Lama has conducted Kalachakra in Mongolia, India, the USA, Switzerland, Spain and recently in the Himalayan foothills, attracting crowds of up to 100,000 people.

During the Dalai Lama's visit there will be a Festival of Tibet held in the forecourt of the Hordern Pavilion starting on Saturday and running through to Monday.

He will also meet New South Wales Premier Bob Carr, give a public talk to about 12,000 people at the Entertainment Centre, deliver a Memorial Lecture at the University of NSW and give a keynote speach to the Endangered Tibet conference at the Powerhouse Museum.