Tibetans around the world were able to watch live VOA coverage of the Dalai Lama’s 76th birthday celebration in Washington Wednesday, as the spiritual leader made his first major speech since announcing he was stepping down as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Voice of America’s special two hour broadcast from the Verizon Center, which was carried live on radio, television and streamed on the Internet, included a 25-minute Tibetan language address by the Dalai Lama to the people of his homeland.
Thousands of people took part in Wednesday’s birthday celebration, including Martin Luther King II, the son of the late U.S. civil rights leader, and Arun Gandhi, the grandson of Indian resistance leader Mahatma Gandhi. The celebration marked the start of an elaborate 10-day Buddhist teaching and ritual ceremony known as a Kalachakra, or the “Wheel of Time”.
Voice of America broadcasts in Tibetan on radio 6 hours a day, 7 days a week, and on Telelvision 2 hours a week. Programs are also available on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and through podcasts. VOA’s television program, Kunleng, can be seen “direct to home” on AsiaSat3, on the Internet and is simulcast on shortwave radio.
For more on VOA in English or in any of its language services, visit www.voanews.com.