The young ruler of Tibet donned the traditional garb of a
Tibetan tribesman and fled on horesback to India to escape the
Chinese occupation of his homeland. The 14th Dalai Lama arrived
in Indiain the spring of 1959, the first and most illustrious
refugee ofthe waves soon to pour out from the ancient ‘Forbidden
Kingdom’. “The Renaissance of Tibetan Civilization” is an
inspiring story of the power of courage and hope — the story of
refugees who arrived destitute at the frontiers of India and
Nepal, yet a mere forty years later have managed to rebuild the
essential patterns of Tibetan culture in exile as a legacy for
the future. The book documents the struggle for survival and the
emerging way of life of individual refugees and families, as
well as there construction of religious and artistic traditions.
Per Kvaerne appends an essay on the Bon religion which augments
the background material necessary for understanding the
ingredients of the diaspora. The forced exodus of Tibetan
culture is one of the most remark