Rare video: The Dalai Lama's Arrival in India (1959) By British Pathé Films The event captured in the British Pathé newsreel "Dalai Lama In India (1959)" marks a pivotal moment in modern Tibetan history: the 14th Dalai Lama's flight from Tibet into exile in India amid the Chinese invasion and suppression of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising. This black-and-white archival clip, provides a firsthand visual record of his arrival in Tezpur, Assam, on April 18, 1959, shortly after crossing the Indian border.

In the 1930s–40s, the 5th Reting Rinpoche (Jamphel Yeshe Gyaltsen), Regent of Tibet after the 13th Dalai Lama, was famously protected by Trungpa a giant of a man known across Lhasa. Like the Dalai Lama’s elite guards (who averaged over 6 feet tall), these bodyguards wore heavily padded clothing to accentuate their imposing stature and legendary strength. A striking symbol of tradition and protection in old Tibet. #TibetanHistory #RetingRinpoche #Lhasa