Dalai Lama names Mongolian boy as new Buddhist spiritual leader

Dharamshala: The Dalai Lama has proclaimed a Mongolian boy born in the US as the reincarnation of the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism.

The eight-year-old boy was pictured with the Dalai Lama at a ceremony that took place in Dharamshala in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Dharamshala is also the place where the Dalai Lama — Tenzin Gyatso –, 87, currently lives in exile and is recognised as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche.

"We have the reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoché of Mongolia with us today," Dalai Lama told his followers present at the ceremony.

He added, "'His predecessors had a close association with the Krishnacharya lineage of Chakrasamvara.

One of them established a monastery in Mongolia dedicated to its practice. So, his being here today is quite auspicious."

Who is the Mongolian boy?

As per reports, the child in question is one of a pair of twin boys named Aguidai and Achiltai Altannar. They are the sons of Altannar Chinchuluun and Monkhnasan Narmandakh, a university mathematics professor and a national resources conglomerate executive, respectively.

Meanwhile, the eight-year-old's grandmother named Garamjav Tseden is a former member of the Mongolian Parliament. This was the first time the boy surfaced and was pictured alongside the Dalai Lama.

Celebrations erupted in Mongolia when the news of the boy being named the reincarnation came in. The ceremony resulted in intense excitement among Buddhists.