DHARAMSHALA, India (AP) — Hundreds of mostly exiled Tibetans gathered in India’s hillside town of Dharamshala to celebrate the birthday of the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, who turned 89 on Saturday.
The Dalai Lama has made the hillside town his headquarters since fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. Representatives of a Tibetan government-in-exile also reside there.
The main celebrations took place in Tsuglagkhang temple inside the complex where the spiritual leader lives. Tibetan and Buddhist flags adorned poles and railings.
I was in Dharamshala for a few days back several years ago and decided randomly to walk like 10 mins to his house and check it out and was super surprised it happened to be his birthday! Celebration was great
There are definitely reasons to criticize the brutal Tibetan caste system that existed before China invaded (which I am absolutely not justifying), but I still have a great appreciation for the Tibetan people and their culture. I grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, where the Dalai Lama’s brother (Jingme Norbu) ended up settling with his family. Slowly, a sizable Tibetan community has built itself up over the years, to the point that now there’s a huge cultural center and Tibetan Buddhist monastery there.
It wasn’t especially unusual to see a couple of these guys walking around the mall or whatever, although I’m sure it blew the minds of visitors.
There have also been multiple Tibetan restaurants over the years. Tibetan food is pretty damn tasty and very spicy.
They drink a salty, buttery tea which is traditionally made with yak butter, but obviously they usually use cow butter in America. I did have some with imported yak butter once and couldn’t tell much difference. Anyway, it’s much better than it sounds.
