The Tibetan community of Delhi is celebrating the 80th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai lama through pictures, books and audio. Curator Tenzin lekshay shares with Shrabasti Mallik how Tibetan Buddhism, in its purest form, has its roots in the Indian Nalanda tradition
There is a heart-warming picture of His Holiness the Dalai lama sharing an intimate moment of happiness with some elderly and the caption below it reads that he was spending time with the older generation of the Tibetan Muslims in Kashmir. In another black and white picture he shares a touching moment with Mother Teresa and in an adjoining photo, he stands next to Desmond Tutu, hand in hand with his ever familiar smile. These are just three out of 80 paintings exhibited to honour the 80th birthday of His Holiness.
Starting today, the exhibition is the result of the efforts of Delhi’s Tibetan community to pay their respect and gratitude, and to show their love for him. According to curator Tenzin lekshay, “If one sits to write about the achievements of His Holiness or to recollect his words of advice and peace, the ink will dry and years will be spent. Such is his greatness that there are very little words that can describe him in all his glory. That is why we are celebrating his journey through photographs because they speak a thousand words.”
It is not just a photo exhibition, lekshay pointed out. The journey of his life from childhood till today is on display through books, audio documentaries and thanka paintings. Interestingly all the 80 photographs, along with a caption, carry a quote delivered by His Holiness. “The idea behind this is to try and pass on his teachings and messages to the people,” he explained adding that they have tried as much as possible to sync the essence of the photograph with the quotes.
To make the exhibition visitor friendly, the photographs have been arranged categorically. So when someone enters the gallery the first pictures they see are the ones depicting a young Dalai lama in the arms of his mother and a few photographs of the him as a young man. Then it gradually moves to when the Indian government gave Tibetans some land and they started to till a land for farming. “Farming is one of the traditional occupations of the Tibetan people. So when they came here they grew crops,” shared lekshay, standing next to a photograph, dated 2009, which showed His Holiness thanking India for letting him and his people live here for 50 years.
In one wall there are 15 paintings, each with an image of His Holiness in the centre. Although it may seem similar from a distance, there are subtle differences in the background. We come to know that all of them were replicas of hand-written paintings of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai lama, by Tibetan masters. lekshay pointed out to one painting with a description of the various places His Holiness has taught.
Through another painting, we learn that awaloke tashwara is the local guardian of the Tibet. According to Tibet history and politics, the Tibetan race began with him. “Myth has it that he came in the form of a monkey and married an ogress and had six children. Since then he has been coming in different form according to the need of the people. Now he has come in the form of a monk — Dalai lama,” shared lekshay.
He also described to us the story of another depiction of God Nachung called the Nachung oracle. “Before China attacked Tibet, the Tibetan government along with His Holiness consulted the oracle and through the medium, Nachung gave His Holiness, the appropriate time to flee. That is how he was saved,” he added.
Not many would know that Amravati in South India has a link with the Buddhist philosopher, Nagarjuna, who is considered the greatest masters of Buddhism. It is also believed that Tibetan Buddhism, in its purest form, has its roots in the Nalanda tradition in India. “In Tibet, we say that we are chelas of India,” he pointed out.
Following the descriptive paintings are photographs of His Holiness with various political leaders from across the world. The first, and prominent, is with Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi and the second is with Nelson Mandela.
The next set of pictures capture His Holiness’ attempt to bring harmony in the world by bringing together all the religion of the world. They depict him interacting with leaders of different faiths. “He has been trying to spread the message of humility and compassion for years,” he said and informed us that last year His Holiness hosted a meeting of the diverse spiritual traditions in India. “We called 100 Indian spiritual masters and scholars from 23 different states. The delegation did not just talk about problems but discussed the issues and aspects which are very much relevant and common to all these religions,” he added.
Many countries have honoured His Holiness from time to time and the next set of photographs give glimpses of few of the many honours that have been bestowed on him. The next section shows how he spread his words of comfort in different countries in their times of turmoil or sorrow.
But the best part of the exhibition is in its last few photographs. Candid shots of His Holiness interacting with people, blessing them and sharing moments of laughter and joy grace another wall of the gallery. lekshay pointed to one in particular, where His Holiness the Dalai lama shares a frame with another man. The man in the picture is blind, he told us, “But even then he harbours no animosity or hatred towards the people who took away his eye sight when he was a child. His Holiness calls him his hero because the man embodies His Holiness’ most important teachings — that of forgiveness and compassion.”
Most of the photographs are sourced from His Holiness’ office while the photographs taken during his foreign tours have been sourced from different delegates. “There are also some pictures which are from private collections,” lekshay added. The exhibition will continue till July 7.
photos Sanjeev Kumar