According to the Tibetan tradition, a person's 80th birth anniversary bears special significance and is celebrated as a milestone.

"We pray that His Holiness the Dalai Lama live for a hundred aeons, that all his wishes be fulfilled with spontaneity, and that the just cause of Tibet prevail with speediness," Speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, Penpa Tsering said.

He praised the Dalai Lama for his efforts in turning the Tibetan leadership into a democracy, for the benefit of Tibetans.