Tibet in exile: a Dharamsala diary

A young Tulku, believed to be a highly-evolved reincarnated lama, gets restless while waiting for the Dalai Lama's New-Year address in Dharamsala, home to the spiritual leader and several thousand Tibetan exiles.
Photograph: Kari Herbert

Hundreds of Tibetan refugees wait patiently at dawn to glimpse the Nechung Oracle, the state rracle of Tibet in trance during the New Year celebrations. Oracles still play an important part in Tibetan religion, doctrine, and prophecy.
Photograph: Kari Herbert

Having walked 1,600 miles to exile from her Tibetan homeland, 15-year-old Tenzin lost her toes to frostbite as well as several friends who attempted to escape over the Himalayas with her. Yet even in the midst of trauma, she remained radiant.
Photograph: Kari Herbert

Rolls of parchment printed with mantras are contained in metal prayer wheels. Spinning a prayer wheel clockwise with pure intentions is thought to increase compassion, purify negativity and bring benefits to all sentient beings. Racks of prayer wheels or manes can be found throughout the exile settlement of McLeod Ganj, a suburb of Dharamshala.
Photograph: Kari Herbert

The 'Ling Rimpoche' - here aged twelve - is believed to be the seventh reincarnation of the Dalai Lama's senior tutor, and a significant figure in the Tibetan tradition. He is regarded as the guardian of 'Ocean of Apostles and Mandala' and as a human manifestation of the deity Vajrabhairava, the wrathful aspect of Manjushri.
Photograph: Kari Herbert

The 'Butterlamp Keepers'. In the stillness of a dark room beside the temple of the Dalai Lama, two elderly Tibetan exiles tend hundreds of butter lamps. These tiny lamps, traditionally filled with clarified yak butter or oil, represent the illumination of wisdom. They are lit to aid meditation and to banish dark thoughts or delusions from the mind.
Photograph: Kari Herbert

During the celebrations of Tibetan New Year - Losar - hundreds of exiles gather on a hillside, hang prayer flags, chant and meditate. As the sound of the chanting swells, some look to the sky, remembering friends and family they have lost and the homeland left behind.
Photograph: Kari Herbert

Moon-rise over Mun Peak, a sacred 4610m mountain in the Dhauladhar range, overlooking McLeod Ganj.
Photograph: Kari Herbert