By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamshala, March 9: Hundreds and thousands of Tibetans and their sympathetic supporters converged in the courtyard of the main Tibetan Temple (Tsuglag-Khang) here to take part in a religious ceremony offering long life prayers to the revered Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The grand ceremonial prayers, jointly organized by the Tibetan Government-in-exile and the people of Tibet, was held to wish “long life” and at the same time pray for the “simultaneous fulfillment of all the wishes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama”, a report on the official website of the exile government said.
The spiritual heads of the four main sects of Tibetan Buddhism and traditional Bon religion of Tibet took part in the religious offering ceremony.
Top official of the Tibetan government, including the Prime Minister Prof Samdhong Rinpoche and his cabinet members took part in the ceremony.
According to a prepared statement from the organisers, the ceremonial offering was part of a series of events being organised this year to “mark the 50th anniversary of the uprising day and the exile of His Holiness the Dalai Lama”.
Similar ceremonial long life offerings are also occasionally held by Tibetan people organizations as a collective expression of gratitude and reverence to the Dalai Lama for his leadership.
Today’s event is of special significance to the Tibetan people as they prepare to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 that eventually forced the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans to flee into exile in India and elsewhere around the world.
Tibetans worldwide have vowed to use the Tuesday’s anniversary to make the cry of their five-decade long freedom struggle heard around the world.
To mark the anniversary, Tibetans and, their supporters and support groups around the world have said they would stage number of street protests and peaceful rallies, including sit-in protests targeting Chinese embassies in their respective locations.
