The national anthem of Tibet ( xct, བོད་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ཆེན་པོའི་རྒྱལ་གླུ།), commonly referred to as "Gyallu", is a

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

an patriotic song which serves as the ''de facto'' anthem of the

Central Tibetan Administration The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ), often referred to as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, is a non-profit political organization based in Dharamshala, India. Its organization is modeled after an elective parliamentary government, compo ...

. It is unclear exactly whether it was first used before the

Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China Tibet came under the control of People's Republic of China (PRC) after the Government of Tibet signed the Seventeen Point Agreement which the 14th Dalai Lama ratified on 24 October 1951, but later repudiated on the grounds that he rendered his ...

in 1951, or after the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...

went into exile in India in 1960. The earliest report of a state anthem (presumably "Gyallu") is between 1949 and 1950 when Tibet was under

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

. It was introduced under reforms set in place to strengthen patriotism among the

Tibetan people The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live ...

. Another report states that the anthem was presented to the

in 1960 in exile. Like "

Qurtulush Yolida "Qurtulush Yolida" ( ug, قۇرتۇلۇش يولیدا; "On the Road to Salvation", also known as "Qurtulush Marshi" (; "March of Salvation"), is a Uyghur patriotic song which served as the national anthem of the First East Turkestan Republic a ...

", performance of this anthem is strictly prohibited by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, particularly in the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a Provinces of China, province-level Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China in Southwest China. I ...

. Tibet's first national anthem was, according to Tashi Tsering, written by a Tibetan scholar during the epoch of the

7th Dalai Lama Kelzang Gyatso (; 1708–1757), also spelled Kalzang Gyatso, Kelsang Gyatso and Kezang Gyatso, was the 7th Dalai Lama of Tibet, recognized as the true incarnation of the 6th Dalai Lama, and enthroned after a pretender was deposed. The Seventh D ...

and under the reign of the Pholanas in between 1745 and 1746.

Lyrics

Written by Trijang Rinpoche around 1950, a tutor of the 14th Dalai Lama, the lyrics focus on the radiance of the

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

.Tibet - nationalanthems.info
/ref> The melody is said to be based on a very old piece of Tibetan sacred music, and some of its elements are also found in other Tibetan songs such as that of Mimang Langlu, a song of the

1959 Tibetan uprising The 1959 Tibetan uprising (also known by other names) began on 10 March 1959, when a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the effective control of the People's Republic of China since the Seventeen Point Agreemen ...

. The lyrics are by the Dalai Lama's tutor,

Trijang Rinpoche The Third Trijang Rinpoche, Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (1901–1981) was a Gelugpa Lama and a direct disciple of Pabongkhapa Déchen Nyingpo. He succeeded Ling Rinpoche as the junior tutor of the 14th Dalai Lama when the Dalai Lama was nineteen ...

. It has been used by

Tibetans in exile The Tibetan diaspora are the diaspora of Tibetan people living outside Tibet. Tibetan emigration has three separate stages. The first stage was in 1959 following the 14th Dalai Lama's defection to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, India. The s ...

ever since the introduction of the state anthem although it is banned in Tibet.

Current lyrics

Original version

The first Tibetan national anthem was created in the 18th century. According to eminent Tibetan scholar Tashi Tsering, it was composed by Pholanas around 1745, at the time of the 7th Dalai Lama.

Sir Charles Bell Sir Charles Bell (12 November 177428 April 1842) was a Scottish surgeon, anatomist, physiologist, neurologist, artist, and philosophical theologian. He is noted for discovering the difference between sensory nerves and motor nerves in the s ...

described it as Tibet's "national hymn".Freedom Wind, Freedom Song
About the origins of Tibet anthems, by

Jamyang Norbu Jamyang Norbu ( Tibetan: འཇམ་དབྱངས་ནོར་བུ་, Wylie: 'jam-dbyangs nor-bu) is a Tibetan political activist and writer, currently living in the United States, having previously lived for over 40 years as a Tibetan exi ...

Notes

References

External links

* Th
Central Tibetan Administration
has a page about "Gyallu" that includes audio instrumental and vocal versions.
Tibetan National Anthem by Kelsang Chuki Tenthong (YouTube)
{{Authority control Tibetan culture

Tibetan Buddhist art and culture National symbols of Tibet Historical national anthems Anthems of non-sovereign states