The prayer congregation also marked the 50th year of the Dalai Lama's stay in Himachal Pradesh.everal Buddhist monks and nuns from different monasteries took part in this prayer meet and chanted hymns from Buddhist scriptures.

After the prayer ritual, the Dalai Lama addressed the congregation and thanked the Chinese people for their support and aid to the victims of the earthquake that hit Tibet recently.

"Today, actually, all the Tibetans, many many Tibetan people are gathered here for the long life prayer ceremony of His Holiness, Dalai Lama. During the prayer ceremony, Dalai Lama gave speech to the Tibetan people, about the earthquake victims in Tibet. He thanked the Chinese people and said that they are helping, donating and doing a lot of things for the earthquake victims," said Chimme Rigzin, one of the organisers of the prayers.

Reportedly, more than 2,000 people died last week in the tremors that rocked the Qinghai province in the autonomous Tibet region of China.