DHARAMSALA, July 4 – A sea of prayer flags called wind horses cover the slopes of this Himalayan town where Buddhist faithful are preparing to celebrate the 70th birthday of the exiled Dalai Lama, hoping he may live long enough to finally return home.
“We have hoisted hundreds of wind horses as this is no ordinary birthday,” Tibetan Women’s Association president B. Thering said of the pennants which Buddhists believe offer longevity.
“We have a huge number of these flags and they’re being hoisted as we celebrate his birthday the whole year,” she said as other Tibetans festooned nearby hills with more pennants.
Thousands of the Tibetan diaspora and supporters from around the world are set to gather in the seat of the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile on his birthday Wednesday in an event tinged with hope that he can one day return home to the land he fled almost fifty years ago after an uprising against Chinese rule was crushed.
Last week, five Tibetan representatives met Chinese officials at China’s embassy in Bern, Switzerland, as part of ongoing contacts between the two sides, the Dalai Lama’s office said in a statement.
Nine years after China invaded, the Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959.
Direct ties between him and Beijing were renewed in 2002. Since then China and Tibetan representatives have met four times to discuss a possible return of Tibetan exiles as well as the question of autonomy for Tibet, in line with a pledge Beijing offered a year after it invaded the region in 1950.
Tibetan government spokesman Thupten Samphel said the celebrations will see three days of non-stop cultural and religious events starting Wednesday. Among those attending will be the heads of Tibetan Buddhism’s four sects.
Dharamsala is also hosting other religious leaders while Hollywood and other celebrities are scheduled to attend the commemorations.
No guest list has been released for security reasons, officials said.
Tibetan centres across the world are also conducting prayers for the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Exiles said “secret instructions” have been sent to Buddhist monasteries in China to join the prayers.
“It is a grand and a special occasion for five million Tibetans across the world,” said Tibetan Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche, as artists and academics rehearsed for a Tibetan carnival of dance performances and religious services.
The Tibetan Youth Congress, which often opposes the Dalai Lama’s “middle path” approach of seeking autonomy instead of independence from China, is also swayed by the occasion.
“We have made compact disks with songs written by the fifth Dalai Lama who was a great poet and other materials which are in praise of the present Dalai Lama and we will distribute them free of cost,” spokesman Dhondup Dorjee said.
“Besides Dharamsala, all the 55 Tibetan Youth Congress chapters across India are also holding cultural programmes to promote the event,” he added.
While Tibetans planned to celebrate his birthday, the Dalai Lama injected a note of caution by saying that he may be the last Dalai Lama in a line leading back to the 14th century if he is able to return to Tibet.
“If I were to die in the next few months or before we were able to return to Tibet, there will be a new Dalai Lama. But if we cease to be a refugee community and live in a democratic Tibet, then I don’t think there should be a successor to me after I die,” he recently said.
An Indian analyst said the Dalai Lama’s comment was meant to signal the birthday celebration is also a political event to put pressure on China to allow him to return home before he dies.
“It was a tactical move as the Dalai Lama is aware a vacant office will open a bitter power struggle between the Chinese and Tibetans,” said Sino-Tibetan affairs expert Sujit Dutta, of India’s Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis in New Delhi.
