66 years in exile, Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama turns 90
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66 years in exile, Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama turns 90
Tibetan spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, turned 90-years-old on Sunday. Hundreds of Tibetans, including monks, nuns, school students and foreign followers, gathered at the event in McLeodganj. Dalai Lama: “I am just a simple Buddhist monk; I don’t normally engage in birthday celebrations. However, since you are organising events focused on my birthday I wish to share some thoughts. While it is important to work for material development, it is vital to focus on achieving peace of mind through cultivating a good heart,” the Dalai Lama said. The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Mao Zedong’s Communist rule, which gained control of Tibet in 1950.
As the Dalai Lama attended his 90th birthday celebration at the Tsuglhakhang Temple in McLeodganj, hundreds of Tibetans, including monks, nuns, school students and foreign followers, gathered at the event.
Union ministers Kiren Rijiju and Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu, Sikyong Penpa Tsering, Hollywood star Richard Gere were among those who attended the function.
Will continue to focus on my commitments: Dalai Lama
In his birthday message, the Dalai Lama said, “I am just a simple Buddhist monk; I don’t normally engage in birthday celebrations. However, since you are organising events focused on my birthday I wish to share some thoughts. While it is important to work for material development, it is vital to focus on achieving peace of mind through cultivating a good heart and by being compassionate, not just toward near and dear ones, but toward everyone. Through this, you will contribute to making the world a better place,” the Tibetan spiritual leader said.
“As for myself, I will continue to focus on my commitments of promoting human values, religious harmony, drawing attention to the ancient Indian wisdom which explains the workings of mind and emotions, and Tibetan culture and heritage, which has so much potential to contribute to the world,” he added.
Dalai Lama accepted people’s wish: Kashag
The Kashag (cabinet) of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), in its statement on Dalai Lama’s birthday said, “On July 2, 2025, His Holiness magnanimously announced the continuation of the institution of the Dalai Lama in accordance with the fervent aspirations of the people of Tibet and devoted followers worldwide. This announcement represents an unequivocal assurance for the continuity of religious, cultural, linguistic, and national identity of Tibet and the Tibetan people.”
“While the Chinese government continues to forcibly prohibit our Tibetan brethren in Tibet from engaging in even the basic religious activities, the sacred bond between teacher and disciple that is sanctified within each bead of Tibetan prayer rosary and each syllable of the six-syllable mantra (Om Mani Padme Hum) cannot be suppressed by tyrannical power. May the day when we Tibetans in Tibet and in exile could freely and jointly celebrate His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday soon arise,” the statement added.
Birth to exile
Born on July 6, 1935, in the Taktser vilage in Tsongkha area of eastern Tibet in Domey province, and named in his childhood as Lhamo Dhondup, the 14th Dalai Lama was recognised as the reincarnation of his predecessor at the age of two.
He became the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama in 1940. In accordance with ancient custom, His Holiness forfeited his name Lhamo Thondup and assumed a new name, Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso.
In 1959, the Dalai Lama, then 23-year-old Tenzin Gyatso, fled to India with thousands of Tibetans following a failed uprising against Mao Zedong’s Communist rule, which gained control of Tibet in 1950. He later arrived in Dharamshala in 1960.