The Dalai Lama turned 90 on Sunday surrounded by thousands of followers, who thronged the Himalayan town of Dharamshala, where the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism has been living in exile since fleeing Chinese rule in Tibet in 1959.

The Dalai Lama has turned 90 years old, and almost 7,000 miles across the world, local Tibetans, friends of Tibet, and western Massachusetts residents are celebrating his birthday.

The Dalai Lama has announced that he will have a successor after his death, continuing a centuries-old tradition that has become a flashpoint in the struggle with China’s Communist Party over Tibet’s future.