McLeod Ganj, India: Home of the Dalai Lama
It is a sad story that started over 50 years ago and continues to this day, although it seems to be thought of as an incident of the past. Over 130,000 Tibetans live in exile in India and throughout the rest of the world. Those that still live in their homeland live in a police state and are forbidden to say the Dalai Lama’s name or carry his picture and the Tibetan flag is outlawed; the penalty is time in a Chinese prison. We met former monks who were tortured in Chinese prison for their beliefs and to this day still suffer from their injuries. While we were in Nepal (stories yet to come), a couple of Tibetan nuns were shot in the back by Chinese soldiers as they tried to escape over the Himalayas, and yet the incident was ignored by the international community. This tragedy of human injustice is still happening and it seems as if the world has abandoned the Tibetans to their fate.
McLeod Ganj, in the Himalayan region of India, is the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile. For those of you not familiar with the Dalai Lama, he is the rightful spiritual and political leader of Tibet, an area now encompassed within China. China invaded this peaceful Buddhist Kingdom at the ‘roof of the world’ in the early 1950’s, feeling that they were helping a poor nation in need by giving them infrastructure and reuniting the Tibetan and Chinese cultures, when in reality, they massacred thousands of Tibetans and nearly destroyed their way of life with the “Cultural Revolution” where hundreds of monasteries were destroyed, monks were killed and forced to kill each other at gunpoint and forbidden to practice their religion, and the Dalai Lama, in 1959, was forced to flee to India on foot over the Himalayas, in fear of his life and the lives of his people. Since then, thousands have followed him, trying to rebuild their lives and retain their fleeting culture, but many have died trying to make the journey. Each pilgrim that reaches McLeod Ganj is personally greeted and welcomed by the Dalai Lama himself. In 1989, the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in trying to free his country in a peaceful manner. Rion and I were hoping to hear him speak during our visit, but he happened to be in Canada at the time.
McLeod Ganj, in the Himalayan region of India, is the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile. For those of you not familiar with the Dalai Lama, he is the rightful spiritual and political leader of Tibet, an area now encompassed within China. China invaded this peaceful Buddhist Kingdom at the ‘roof of the world’ in the early 1950’s, feeling that they were helping a poor nation in need by giving them infrastructure and reuniting the Tibetan and Chinese cultures, when in reality, they massacred thousands of Tibetans and nearly destroyed their way of life with the “Cultural Revolution” where hundreds of monasteries were destroyed, monks were killed and forced to kill each other at gunpoint and forbidden to practice their religion, and the Dalai Lama, in 1959, was forced to flee to India on foot over the Himalayas, in fear of his life and the lives of his people. Since then, thousands have followed him, trying to rebuild their lives and retain their fleeting culture, but many have died trying to make the journey. Each pilgrim that reaches McLeod Ganj is personally greeted and welcomed by the Dalai Lama himself. In 1989, the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in trying to free his country in a peaceful manner. Rion and I were hoping to hear him speak during our visit, but he happened to be in Canada at the time.
Bare Himalayan peaks rise above the green mountainous landscape of McLeod Ganj. Lhasa, the former capital of Tibet, lies in a valley on the Tibetan plateau, at 3800 meters.
The Tibetan Handicrafts Coop is one organization that keeps the craft of traditional carpet weaving alive.
Tsuglag Khang is the Dalai Lama’s temple complex, comparable in function to the Potala Palace in Lhasa. It houses the main temple, the monastic body, and the home of the Dalai Lama.
Surrounding the temple complex is a meditation trail lined with many shrines and prayer flags. Monks, nuns, and pilgrims walk this trail in a clockwise direction, carrying prayer beads and saying prayers.
To see more pictures from McLeod Ganj, please visit the following link
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