Tibetans pray for Dalai Lama at 80th birthday celebration

June 21, 2015 19:06

The Dalai Lama marked his official 80th birthday on Sunday, with prayers and celebrations at his hometown in exile but little to show for decades of lobbying seeking greater Tibetan autonomy.

The Nobel laureate will be in the United States when he turns 80 on July 6, but Sunday is his official birthday according to the Tibetan lunar calendar, and he celebrated with his family, fans and followers in Dharamsala.

The jovial Tibetan spiritual leader told fellow exiles and Indian and foreign dignitaries that he expected to live another 20 years and would continue to work for the promotion of compassion and religious harmony.

"I hope you will join me again to celebrate my 90th birthday," he said in a speech at the Tsuglakhang Temple in Dharamsala, the north Indian hill town where he has lived since fleeing Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

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