DHARAMSALA - Thousands of Tibetan exiles are expected to assemble in this Himachal Pradesh town Monday for celebrations to mark the 74th birthday of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
“Exiles, monks and well-wishers will join the birthday celebrations of His Holiness (the Dalai Lama) Monday. They will pray for the well-being and long life of their icon of peace and wisdom,” Tenzin Taklha, joint secretary at the Dalai Lama’s office, told IANS.
Special prayers have been planned at the hilltop Tsuglagkhang temple close to the official palace of the Dalai Lama at McLeodganj near here.
“Representatives of the Tibetan parliament and the Tibetan cabinet will also attend the celebrations. Visiting Australian parliamentarians will be the chief guests on the occasion,” said Taklha.
A delegation of six Australian parliamentarians comprising Labour MPs Michael Danby and Melissa Parke, Liberal MP Peter Slipper, Independent Senator Nick Xenophon, and Greens Senators Scott Ludlam and Sarah Hanson-Young are on a weeklong visit here.
However, the Dalai Lama won’t be present here Monday and will attend celebrations in New Delhi.
“The spiritual guru will attend the celebrations organised by the Himalayan Buddhist Association in Delhi. It is for expressing gratitude to their spiritual leader for completing 50 years of his stay in India,” said Taklha.
Last year, the Nobel laureate’s birthday celebrations were largely subdued due to unrest in Tibet.
Born on July 6, 1935 at Taktser hamlet in northeastern Tibet, the Dalai Lama was recognised at the age of two as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama Thubten Gyatso. He fled Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, basing his Tibetan government-in-exile here.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his non-violent campaign for democracy and freedom in his homeland. Ever since he fled to India, he has spent his time in exile pushing for autonomy for Tibet.
The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, has been following a “middle-path” policy that seeks “greater autonomy” for Tibetans rather than complete independence.
The Dalai Lama has increasingly voiced his frustration with the situation and has said that he has now given up trying to win concessions from Beijing.
“Things are not going well… I have to accept failure… my trust with the Chinese leadership (is) now thinner, thinner, thinner,” the Tibetan leader has said.
Though he looks healthy, the deteriorating health of the elderly monk in recent months is a matter of concern for the community in exile.
He was admitted to Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi in October 2008, where he underwent a gall bladder surgery. Earlier, he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai twice with abdominal discomfort. Subsequently, he had also cancelled his visits to Europe, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
But he has returned to his gruelling schedule, travelling around the globe to speak on Buddhism and human rights.
After India allowed the Dalai Lama to settle here, Dharamsala became an attraction for Westerners in search of Tibetan culture and spiritual sustenance. Hollywood stars such as Richard Gere are frequent visitors here.
A total of 140,000 Tibetans now live in exile, over 100,000 of them in different parts of India. Over six million Tibetans live in Tibet.
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