GOVERNMENT OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH
                                     DIRECTORATE OF INFORMATION PUBLIC RELATIONS & PRINTING
                                                                        // NAHARLAGUN //

NO.IPR(PR)-86/2002                                                            Dated Naharlagun, the 9th  July, 2003.

                                                                         PRESS RELEASE

BIRTHDAY CEREMONY OBSERVED

The 68th birthday ceremony of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was observed with traditional gaiety and enthusiasm at Thubchog Gatseling Monastery, Bomdila on 6th July 2002. Ven. T.G. Rinpoche, minister of state (Handicrafts), Government of Arunachal Pradesh graced the occasion as the chief guest. Officers, official along with district heads of departments, monks, school children and public of Bomdila and its neighbouring villages attended the ceremony. Earlier, the portrait of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was taken around the township led by Lamas and school children. 

In his address on the auspicious occasion, Rev. Rimpoche called upon the people to preserve their cultural identity and to follow the preaching of Buddha. Earlier, in his speech, Mr. Sange, Tibetan Welfare Officer, Bomdila spoke on the life of the 14th Dalai Lama and said His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso was born in a peasant family on 6th July 1935, in a small village called Taktser in northeastern region of Tibet. His Holiness was recognized at the age of two as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama. The enthronement ceremony took place on 22nd February 1940 in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. He began his education at the age of six and completed the Geshe Lharampa Degree (Directorate of Buddhist Philosophy) when he was 25 years in 1959 at 24 Years, he took the preliminary examinations at each of the three monastic universities, i.e. Drepung, Sera and Ganden. The final examination was conducted in the Jokhang, Lhasa during the annual Monlam Festival of Prayer held in the first month of every year Tivetan calendar. On 17th November 1950, His Holiness was called upon to assume full political power (Head of the State and Government) after the Chinese invaded Tibet. In 1954, he went to Beijing to talk peace with Mao Tse Tung and other Chinese leaders. In 1956, while visiting India to attend the 2500th Buddha Jayanti anniversary, he called on the then Prime Minister of India, Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru on 10th March 1959, the capital of Tibet, Lhasa had a large demonstration calling on China to leave Tibet and reaffirming Tibet’s independence. The uprising was brutally crushed by the Chinese army. His Holiness escaped to India where he was given political asylum. Since 1960, he is residing in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, known as ‘Little Lhasa’, the seat of the Tibetan Government in Exile.

A colourful cultural programme was presented by the school children. The organizer also organized a community feast.