New Delhi - Thousands of Tibetan exiles gathered in India's
northern hill-town of Dharamsala Monday to celebrate the 74th
birthday of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
Local television showed scores of exiles and monks assembling in
Dharamsala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile to
join the birthday celebrations.
'People prayed for the long life and health of the 14th Dalai
Lama. At a function in New Delhi, people from various Indian states
also paid tributes to His Holiness,' Tenzin Taklha, a spokesman of
Dalai Lama, said.
The Nobel Peace laureate, who has lived in India since fleeing his
homeland in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, told
the gathering in Delhi that he was promoting secular harmony during
his travels abroad.
'When I visited different countries in these years, I have not
promoted or propagated Buddhism as said by many, but harmony,
humanity and spirituality,' he was quoted as saying by the PTI news
agency.
'I am promoting secular values, message of love, compassion,
dignity, spirit of common values and harmony as has been promoted by
great thinkers,' he said.
Striking an emotional chord with the gathering, mostly Tibetans
living in various parts of India, the spiritual leader said with the
prayers being said for him, he would surely celebrate his 100th
birthday.
In Dharamsala, special prayer sessions were held at the main
Tsuglagkhang temple complex where members of the Tibetan parliament
and the government-in-exile participated. Last year's birthday
celebrations were largely subdued due to unrest in Tibet.
Born in 1935 in northeastern Amdo province of Tibet, Lhamo
Dhondrub was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama
at the age of 2. He was brought to Lhasa in October 1939, and
enthroned as the head of the state of Tibet on February 22, 1940.
He fled to Dharamsala after a failed uprising against Chinese rule
on March 10, 1959.
The Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his
non-violent campaign for democracy and freedom in his homeland.
A total of 140,000 Tibetans now live in exile, nearly 110,000 of
them in 35 settlements across India. Six million Tibetans live inside
Tibet.
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