by Pheroze L. Vincent, Telegraph

The skies have opened in torrents across the Dhauladhar range ahead of the Dalai Lama’s much-reckoned 90th birthday; the air remains mum on what’s to come. Who’s to be his pick as successor, spiritual and temporal head of the Tibetan Buddhists? Is a naming even in the offing? Nobody’s telling. Everybody is tuning in.

Pilgrims have been streaming in by air and road, braving the rain and flash floods. Many tourists have joined in out of curiosity.

Monks and nuns are seen blessing devotees, many of whom have brought their children along. Long-parted friends and family, united by the jamboree, have been enjoying a meal together after a decade.

The Dalai Lama’s decadal birthday celebrations draw more than the usual flock to Dharamshala, the headquarters of Tibetan Buddhism and its government-in-exile. This year the pull seems stronger, thanks to all the succession talk.

On Wednesday, the Dalai Lama reaffirmed that a trust created by him had sole authority to recognise his future reincarnation — his successor as the head of Tibetan Buddhism.

“I last came here for the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday,” said Chopel, a monk turned trinket seller.

Chopel is a Tibetan refugee from Mundgod, Karnataka. After four years as a monk, he had quit in 2011 and now runs his business in Kathmandu.“Sometimes life leads you onto different paths,” Chopel said as he and his cousins shared a meal of dal and rice at one of the shops at the entrance to the Dalai Lama’s abode and temple in McLeodganj. Click here to read more.