June 29, 2015

The Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday was marked in Tibet on the weekend of June 21-22 in moving and devotional ceremonies in monasteries, the grasslands and in the heart of Lhasa, despite the dangers of punitive actions from the Chinese Government for Tibetans of demonstrating their allegiance to the Tibetan leader.

Images and footage from Tibet showed Tibetans gathering to mark the birthday (July 6 in the West, and June 21 in the Tibetan calendar) with displays of butter sculptures, prayer ceremonies, offerings before large images of the Dalai Lama, and traditional scattering of prayer flags in the wind. The celebrations took place despite tightened security in many areas of Tibet, with officials in Tibetan areas warning against gatherings to mark the significant birthday. Over the past few years, any attempt to publicly mark the Dalai Lama’s birthday has been banned in Tibet.