Dalai Lama’s Birthday Date in the current year: July 6, 2024

Tibetan Buddhism is probably best known for its system of incarnate lamas (spiritual leaders). The Dalai Lama is believed to be the successor in a line of tulkus (reincarnations) who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, a bodhisattva embodying the compassion of all Buddhas.

The current Dalai Lama is the fourteenth spiritual leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born Lhamo Thondup on July 1935 to a poor farming family. He as the ninth of sixteen children and one of seven siblings to survive childhood. Lhamo Thondup was recognized as the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama in 1937 and enthroned as the Dalai Lama in 1940.

When the army of the People’s Republic of China entered Tibet, the Dalai Lama had to become a political leader at the age of 15 and was enthroned as the temporal ruler of Tibet. Following the 1959 Tibetan uprising, he fled to India and set up the Government of Tibet in Exile (Central Tibetan Administration). The Dalai Lama used to be head of the Government, but in 2011, the CTA officially became democratic, and the Dalai Lama resigned as a political leader.

The Dalai Lama’s birthday is celebrated by Tibetan Buddhists around the world. On this day, they pray for their spiritual leader’s health and longevity.