MCLEODGANJ: Hundreds of Tibetan exiles and Indians Sunday celebrated the Dalai Lama's 73th birthday at McleaodGanj near Dharamsala. The Tibetans here joined in joyous and spirited celebrations to mark the 73th birthday of their spiritual leader and an icon of peace and wisdom in modern times, and prayed for his long life.

The birthday celebrations began early Sunday and are continuing with great enthusiasm, despite the heavy monsoon rain here. Large numbers of Tibetans have been standing outside his holiness' palace since morning.

He is a revered temporal leader among Tibetans .He is head of the Tibetan Government in Exile in Dharamsala. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate, he is also the world's best-known Buddhist monks. Members of the Kashag, Tibetan parliament, and the Tibetan government-in-exile assembled at the Tsuglakhang Tibetan temple this morning for a prayer meeting on the occasion.

The office of the Dalai Lama was swamped with felicitation messages from his followers, religious leaders, and statesmen from across the world. Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile said, today is a very special occasion because on this day the world witnessed the birth of a great leader, not just of the Tibetans but of the humanity as a whole. For his followers it was undoubtedly an occasion of a spiritual tryst with their guru as he makes a public appearance at the main temple at McLeodganj, near here, on his birthday every year.

The Dalai Lama has lived in this hilly town since he fled from Chinese troops in 1959.Ever since he fled to India, he has spent his time in exile pushing for greater autonomy for Tibet from Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama is revered by the Tibetan people as their spiritual leader. Born on 6 July 1935, to a farming family in north-eastern Tibet, he was recognised at the age of two as the incarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. Since then he has lived much of his life as a simple monk, spending many hours praying and meditating. But his life changed course dramatically after Chinese troops invaded eastern Tibet in 1951. Eight years later, during a bloody suppression of an anti-Chinese uprising, the Dalai Lama and his government fled. As the head of an unrecognized government, he has also become a de facto diplomat, rallying people around the world to his cause. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his non-violent struggle for Tibet.