After 60 years in exile, Dalai Lama still remembered in his homeland

It may have been six decades since the Dalai Lama fled into exile, but in the isolated mountain hamlet where he was born, he remains very much on the minds of devotees and Chinese authorities alike. (Reuters)

On the northeastern edge of the Tibetan plateau, Taktser, in Qinghai province, where the Dalai Lama was born in 1935 to parents who farmed buckwheat and barley, is a magnet to worshippers and foreign tourists - and security personnel. (Reuters)

Last Sunday marked 60 years since the Dalai Lama, disguised as a soldier, fled the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, after rumours that Chinese troops were planning his abduction or assassination fomented an abortive popular uprising. The Dalai Lama crossed into India two weeks later, and has not set foot in Tibet since.(Reuters)

Despite the passage of time, during sensitive political anniversaries China's security apparatus routinely restricts access to the village where the Dalai Lama's old family is located, behind a pair of wooden doors and high concrete walls. (Reuters)

Dalai Lama's escape into India is one of the most politically sensitive dates in China this year which also includes the 30th anniversary of pro-democracy crackdown in Tiananmen Square in June. (Reuters)