The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay
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Nov 2013 back issue
by Sujoy Das
In 1959 in the face of severe aggression by the Chinese, the Dalai Lama and some of his followers fled from Tibet
over the high Himalayan passes and sought refuge in India. The Indian Government provided them with a small
settlement on a ridge top known as Mcleodganj in the Himalayas.
Since 1959, more than one hundred-and-twenty thousand Tibetan refugees in exile across the world have fled their
homeland in an effort to practice and conserve the Tibetan way of life. Severely threatened by the increasing
Sinicization of the Tibet plateau, the immensely rich religion, language, culture, heritage and unique habitat of this
peace-loving people today faces extinction. Perhaps its last unthreatened traditional bastions remain in the Indian
Himalayas and in settlements in Bhutan and Nepal, while a Tibetan Government-in-Exile struggles to cohesively
function from the hilltop called McLeodganj.
This essay focuses on the exiled community in Mcleodganj and it's environs.
The early morning circumambulation around the Tsulakhang monastery.
Monks in the evening sunshine below the temple of the Dalai Lama.
The Losel Dolls Museum at the Norbulingka Institute faithfully replicates here the Potala Palace and the dancing lamas
in the foreground.
The Central Tibetan Library in Dharamsala contains rare manuscripts and scriptures smuggled by the monks when
escaping from Tibet.
Woodcraft by the students at the Norbulingka Institute set up by the Dalai Lama for the preservation of Tibetan cultural
heritage.
Monks outside the Tsulakhang chapel listening to a
religious discourse by His Holiness, The Dalai Lama.
Monks outside the Tsulakhang chapel listening to a religious discourse by His Holiness, The Dalai Lama.
Monks paint the "tormas" at the Gaden Shartse Kangsar Monastery in the town of Mcleodganj in preparation for the
Losar festival.
The Dalai Lama greets his followers outside the Tsulakhang chapel after a religious discourse.
Phurba Tsering works at his shop in Mcleodganj specializing in the Tibetan "baku" and other indigenous attire for the
exiled population.
Teams from six Tibetan Children's Village (TCV) schools in India participate in an Athletics Meet in Dharamsala.
Cheering their teams in the 5th Inter School Tibetan Athletics Meet.
School children play war games at the TCV School in Mcleodganj, a repercussion of the atrocities inside Tibet.
Dressing a mannequin in a Tibetan Baku at a boutique in Mcleodganj.
Holding a rosary in his hand a Tibetan trader looks back at a monk on the streets of Mcleodganj.
Tibetans students in Mcleodganj protest Chinese atrocities against their brethren in Tibet.
A candle light procession and prayer meeting outside the Dalai Lama's chapel - The Tsulakhang to express solidarity
with the freedom fighters inside Tibet.
More than one hundred and twenty Tibetans have self-immolated themselves for the cause of Tibetan freedom.
