Remembering Tibet During The Great Thirteenth Dalai Lama
[Friday, 26 February 2010, 11:12 p.m.]
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| Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche leaves after offering a khata (ceremonial scarf) to a portrait of the 13th Dalai Lama at Tsuglakhang temple in Mcleod Ganj, India, on 25 February 2010.Tibet Sun/Lobsang Wangyal/India |
Dharamshala: The official commemoration of the centenary of The Great Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s exile to British protectorate in India has begun from 25 February 2010. The inaugural function held Thursday at Tsuglagkhang, the Buddhist temple in Dharamsala, was attended by a large gathering of Central Tibetan Administration officials and general public.
Kalon Tripa Prof Samdhong Rinpoche and Mr Penpa Tsering, speaker of the Tibet Parliament, spoke on the profound contribution of the Great Thirteenth Dalai Lama in both the spiritual and political governance of Tibet.
The Thirteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet, Thubten Gyatso, achieved great accomplishments in maintaining the political and spiritual supremacy of independent Tibet, and ushering happiness to the Tibetan people. After the rule of Great Fifth Dalai Lama there was the steady decline of rule by successive Dalai Lamas due to subversive intrigues by Manchus and Gurkhas. The Thirteenth Dalai Lama took the temporal and spiritual responsibility of Tibet in 1895 in accordance with the prayers and wishes of the people of Tibet. He fulfilled the profound visions of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama in governing the institution of Gaden Phodrang, the Government of Tibet, Kalon Tripa said.
With the entry into Tibet of the invading British and Manchu troops in 1904 and 1910 respectively, The Great Thirteenth Dalai Lama was compelled to flee to China and British protectorate in India, Kalon Tripa said.
In 1911, revolution broke out in China. The pay and supplies of the Chinese troops in Tibet were cut off, they revolted against their officers, and in 1912 the Tibetans drove drove the remnants of them, together with the Ambans, out of the country. In June 1912 the Dalai Lama returned in triumph to Tibet but it was not until January 1913, after the departure of the last Chinese, that he entered Lhasa and issued declarations that Tibet was an independent nation.
He said plans are afoot to mark the centenary in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Calcutta where the Thirteenth Dalai Lama spent his days during exile.
Kalon Tripa said in 2012 the administration would also commemorate the centenary of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet and declaration of Tibet’s independence in 1912.
The people of Tibet throughout the three provinces of Tibet lived with happiness and prosperity during the reign of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama from 1912 to 1951, Kalon Tripa added.
And during his reign Tibet made a number of international agreements. The Tibetan government signed a convention with the British government in 1904 when the Thirteen Dalai Lama was forced to flee to Mongolia as British troops advanced to Lhasa. In the Dalai Lama’s absence the convention was signed by the Regent, using the Dalai Lama’s seal, and also sealed by the Cabinet, the National Assembly, and the monasteries of Drepung, Sera and Gaden. Tibet in fact, had made a formal international agreement as a sovereign power. It confirmed the boundary and trading rights, and among other things, it undertook that no foreign power should be allowed to intervene in Tibetan affairs without the consent of the British government. China was not mentioned at all in the document, and by this omission it must have been included among the unspecified foreign powers. As soon as the convention was signed, the British forces marched out of Tibet and never threatened Tibet again.
The Thirteenth Dalai Lama improved the living standards of Tibetan people, and organised the Tibetan army. He also sent students abroad to study; established small hydroelectric plants and industries; introduced postal and telegraph services; issued stamps; new gold and silver coins, and currency notes. He also made changes in the curriculum of religious studies in Gelukpa monasteries.
