![]() ![]() On March 17, he snuck out of the palace and started his long trek to India. The Dalai Lama's guards were executed, monasteries around Lhasa were also attacked and destroyed, and by then, the Dalai Lama was already gone. Then, on March 21, the Chinese Army started shelling the palace and the protesters, killing thousands of men, women, and children. More people assembled and, according to History, fighting started two days later. Fears that the Dalai Lama would be taken were very real, and Free Tibet says that's when tens of thousands of people gathered around the Dalai Lama's Norbulingka Palace to make their fears known. But when they followed the request with instructions that he should come alone, that didn't sit well with anyone - especially when word leaked to the public. Invitations turned to demands, and they agreed on March 10,1959. Then, something incredibly suspicious happened. Representatives of the Chinese Army invited the Dalai Lama to a theatrical performance and a tea at their Lhasa headquarters. It wasn't an easy transition for the toddler, and he would later write, "There now began a somewhat unhappy period of my life." ![]() From there, he was taken from his home and ultimately, to Lhasa - as he had predicted. Any doubts he was the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama disappeared when he recognized and named the men who came to his house, and correctly picked items - teacups, drums, rosaries, and a walking stick - that had belonged to the previous Dalai Lama. He was only 2-years-old when representatives of the Tibetan government discovered him. One of his favorite things to do was to pack his things and declare he was going to Tibet's capital, Lhasa, and when he was born, his father had somewhat miraculously recovered from a severe illness. They were poor farmers, and Lhamo was one of 16 children, although only seven survived childhood. His memories, he says, "were very ordinary," but distinct. There was the small village of Taktser, and it was home to little Lhamo Thondup and his family. ![]()
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