Dalai Lama’s birthday on July 6 

Dharamshala: The Kashag (the advisory board of the Tibetan government-in-exile) has issued an advisory yesterday evening for the most-awaited ‘Trungkar’ celebration, the 86th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on 6 July, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.(Trungkar is the Tibetan word for 'Dalai Lama 's birthday' celebrated on June 21, according to the Tibetan calendar, and July 6, according to the Western calendar).

A Tibetan spokesperson said that in accordance with the Himachal Pradesh government issued guidelines and SOPs for social gatherings with restriction upto 50 people, Kashag Secretariat directed all monasteries and settlements to avoid congregation of public and instead, mark the day as per traditions: offering of the mandala and white scarves to the portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
 
“Most importantly, it has urged all Tibetans to recite the Chenrezig mantra, Om Mani Padme Hung, over 1000 times to  be dedicated on His Holiness’ birthday,” spokesperson said.
 
The six-syllable mantra is associated with the Bodhisattva of compassion and the patron saint of Tibet, Chenrezig. For Tibetans, His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the human manifestation of Chenrezig.
 
Every year, Trungkar is celebrated with grandeur, glory and festive spirit unlike any other. This year also, the day will be celebrated with the same fervour, but in a Covid-appropriate manner.
 
In view of the ongoing efforts to curb the Covid-19 pandemic, CTA will broadcast the official Trungkar celebration via Tibet TV for all to join virtually from the safety of their homes.
 
The 14th Dalai Lama, known as Tenzin Gyatso, (Born on 6 July 1935) is the current Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader of Tibet, and a retired political leader of Tibet.
 
The central government of Tibet, invested the Dalai Lama with temporal duties until his exile in 1959. On April 29, 1959, the Dalai Lama established the independent Tibetan government in exile, the Central Tibetan Administration, in the north Indian hill station of Mussoorie, which then moved in May 1960 to Dharamsala, where he resides. He retired as political head in 2011 to make way for a democratic government.

The Dalai Lama is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded in 1989, and the US Congressional Gold Medal in 2006. Time magazine named the Dalai Lama one of the "Children of Mahatma Gandhi" and Gandhi's spiritual heir to nonviolence.