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Dalai Lama marks 50 years of life in McLeod Ganj

By Lobsang Wangyal | Tibet Sun

The Dalai Lama (second left), chief minister of Himachal Pradesh Prem Kumar Dhumal (left), the Karmapa (second right) and Kishan Kapoor at Dari grounds in Dharamshala, India, on 30 April 2010. The Tibetan government-in-exile organised a function ‘Thank you Himachal Pradesh’ to thank the people and the government of Himachal Pradesh for providing home to the Dalai Lama and Tibetan refugees for the last 50 years. The Dalai Lama arrived in Mcleod Ganj on 30 April 1960.Tibet Sun/Lobsang Wangyal/India

Despite the difficult times of life in exile, the Dalai Lama kept the hope for a free Tibet floating high from his exile base in the north Indian hill-top village of Mcleod Ganj.

In a function called ‘Thank you Himachal’ to mark the 50th anniversary since the Dalai Lama set foot in the state of Himachal Pradesh, the Dalai Lama thanked the people and the government of the state for providing shelter to him and thousands of other Tibetan refugees.

He said he had lived two-thirds of his life in India, saying he has been the ‘longest-staying guest of India’. Being nourished with Indian rice and dal, he called himself a ‘Son of India’.

“I also act as India’s messenger of ancient Indian thoughts.” He said that he feels proud to be doing that as India is an example of unity in diversity — that there are many religions in India yet the different practitioners all live in harmony.

He said that despite his difficult life in exile he has been able to keep the fight for the Tibetan cause alive and said that he feels proud about what the Tibetans have achieved despite their life in exile.

The chief minister of the state Prem Kumar Dhumal was the chief guest of the function, which was organised by the Tibetan government-in-exile. The prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile Samdhong Rinpoche and his cabinet members, the Karmapa, other Tibetan government officials, Indian dignitaries, and hundreds of local Indians and Tibetans participated in the event.

Born in 1935, at age two he was recognised as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. When he was five years old he was brought to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, from Amdo, which is now in today’s Qinghai Province in China.

“When I was 16 years of age, I was accorded the full power of then state when the situation of Tibet had become critical,” he said.

The Dalai Lama came in to exile in India in 1959 when he was 24 after the Chinese invasion of Tibet. He first took shelter in the popular tourist destination Mussoorie, where he set up the first Tibetan school in exile.

The Dalai Lama arrived in Mcleod Ganj, a suburb of Dharamshala, on 30 April 1960, first residing at the Swarg Ashram, which today houses the Mountaineering Institute. He later moved to his current residence at Thekchen Choeling premises.

There are about 150,000 Tibetan refugees in exile around the world, of which about 35,000 live in Himachal Pradesh in 14 different Tibetan refugee settlements.

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