Tibetans-in-exile celebrate 88th birthday of Dalai Lama, hope to go back to Tibet

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], July 6 : Tibetans-in-exile, who hope to return back home, celebrated the 88th birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama.

Scores of elders, young women, monks and others of the Tibetan community gathered in the Tibetan school Chhota Shimla to celebrate the birthday of their temporal leader. The Indian Buddhist community and local residents also participated in the celebration.

The tribal development, horticulture and revenue minister of the Himachal Pradesh government, Jagat Singh Negi cut the cake. He inaugurated the exhibition organized by The Sambhota Tibetan School on life of Dalai Lama and Tibet. The Tibetans are celebrating this birthday with the hope of celebrating it someday in Tibet.

"We are celebrating the 88th Birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama and the revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi has participated in the function. We have organized cultural dances and cake-cutting ceremonies here. The Tibetan community-in-exile not only in Shimla but across the globe is celebrating his birthday today. We are paying respect and offering prayers on this occasion. His teachings, peace, love and compassion are important for all of us," said Tsewang Phuntsok, Chief Representative Officer of the Central Tibetan Administration in Shimla.

Everybody was fascinated with the traditional Tibetan folk dances and cultural performances by Tibetan students.

Jagat Singh Negi, Minister of Himachal Pradesh government, who is a legislator from the Kinnaur region of the state which is close to the Indo-Tibet-china border said that the Tibetans and Tibet are close to his heart and the preaching of Dalai Lama is important for all.

Negi said that the message of peace and love by the Dalai Lama is relevant and it is a happy moment for all to celebrate his 88th birthday here.

The 14th Dalai Lama was born on July 6, 1935, in a small farming village in Takster, northeastern Tibet. At the age of two, the boy Lhamo Dhondup was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama in October 1939. He was brought to Lhasa and was formally installed as the head of Tibet on February 22, 1940. Boy Lhamo Dhondup was later named Tenzin Gyasto, and his monastic education was started at the age of six.

Dalai Lama is a Mongolian term, which means "Ocean of Wisdom'', and the Dalai Lamas are the manifestation of the Bodhisattva of compassion. Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who have postponed their own enlightenment and chosen to take rebirth to serve according to Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

The Dalai Lama assumed full political powers in 1950 after the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1949. In March 1959, after the suppression of the Tibetan National Uprising, Dalai Lama was forced to escape into exile in India with over eighty thousand refugees. For the last six decades, the Dalai Lama has been working for the promotion of peace, love and compassion.

Today, the Tibetan Community-in-exile celebrated his 88th Birthday and offered prayers for his long life. The cultural dances and traditional folk dances by the Tibetans were an attraction for them here.