Dalai Lama turns 90 as per Tibetan calendar, addresses succession amid festivities

McLeodganj, the suburb in the Himalayan town of Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, is bustling with activity as the 14th Dalai Lama, on Monday, celebrated his 90th birthday, as per the Tibetan calendar. 

Notably, all eyes are on this town as the Buddhist leader is expected to share details of his succession plan on July 6, the day he turns 90 as per the Gregorian calendar. 

 

The celebrations on Monday took place at the revered Dalai Lama Temple, for which the devotees started assembling early morning. The Dalai Lama arrived in a golf cart flocked by red-robed monks and blessed the devotees. Also in attendance were spiritual leaders of Tibet, representatives of the Chinese Buddhist tradition, representatives of the Theravada traditions from India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma, as well as representatives from Hindu, Christian, Islam, Baha’i, Jain, and Sikh faiths, who sat alongside the Dalai Lama. 

 

"We offer our fervent devotion that Tenzin Gyatso (the 14th Dalai Lama), protector of the Land of Snows, lives for one hundred eons," a chorus of monks, dressed in the traditional red robes, sang. 'May all your noble aspirations be fulfilled,' they sang.

 

The celebrations also comprised singing and dancing to Tibetan tunes, as the performers, decked up in traditional attire, added myriad hues to the brown and yellow associated with Tibetan Buddhism. 

 

Dressed up in the brown and yellow Buddhist robe, the Dalai Lama ate a slice of his birthday cake, a tall, Tibetan-style preparation made with barley and butter. "Although I am 90, physically I am quite healthy," the Nobel Prize-winning monk said, addressing the crowd, with a warm smile on his face. "In the time I’ve been left with, I’ll continue to work for the well-being of others," he added.

 

This is no ordinary celebration, not only in terms of the size of the gathering, which comprised of local Tibetans and also the diaspora from abroad but also for the larger political and geopolitical impact, as the Dalai Lama is expected to share details of his succession plan at the three-day gathering of religious leaders in Dharamshala starting July 2.

 

He also addressed the issue during the celebrations on Monday saying: “As far as the institution of Dalai Lama, there will be some kind of framework within which we can talk about its reincarnation,” indicating, strongly, that the 600-year-old institution will continue after his death.

 

Meanwhile, China views the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, as a rebel and a separatist, and has said that it would choose the next Dalai Lama. Meanwhile, the Buddhist leader has said his successor will be born in the “free world” outside of China.

India