Dharamsala observed the 14th Birthday of the XIth Panchen Lama
Dharamsala (TibetNet), 28 April 2003: It has been eight years since his disappearance. The whereabouts of the X1th Panchen Lama Gedun Choekyi Nyima is still an answer the international community has not received from the Chinese government.
On 25th April, the Tibetans in Dharamsala celebrated the 14th birthday of Tibet’s stolen boy. The community here marked the day in many different ways.
In the morning, the residents gathered at Lhagyal Ri, below His Holiness the Dalai lama’s temple, to offer prayers and take part in the incense burning ceremony. It was a sombre gathering as the people wished for the happiness and long life of their second highest lama.
During the day, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) organised a painting competition among 30 children from various Tibetan schools around Dharamsala. The young painters had one thing in common with the 11th Panchen Lama. They all shared the same age. The kids were asked to express their world in colors. As the event progressed and the imagination of the young kids was revealed out on the white sheets, hundreds of tourists and supporters watched on.
Most of the paintings expressed a world mired in conflicts. Tenzin Phagpa, a 6th grader, has depicted his world with weeping clouds and hills. When asked about the idea behind such a melancholy impression, he said, “As of now, we are not doing a good job. We will be the cause of our own destruction.” Facing Tenzin, another boy has painted a green planet offered in divine hands to a man looking confused. The boy shed light on that by saying the creator of our planet has given us a healthy and green planet and that is not we have now.
The winner of the competition will get Rupees 1000 as prize money. The participants were given a bag each as a consolation prize.
In the Evening, the community gathered in the main streets of Mcleod Gunj to take part in the Candle Light Vigil. The Vigil was jointly organised the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Tibetan Women’s Association and the National Democratic Party of Tibet.