14th Dalai Lama: Some rare pictures of the spiritual leader as he turns 87 years today

The Dalai Lama meets with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in New Delhi.

Dalai Lama at the inauguration of a Thai temple in Bodhgaya.

Dalai Lama interacts with his followers on his arrival at the airport in Hubli district.

Dalai Lama playfully pulls the beard of Yoga guru Baba Ramdev during a world peace and harmony conclave in Mumbai.

Dalai Lama attends 'Ideas of Harmonious Coexistence: Religions and Philosophies of India' at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in New Delhi. 

Dalai Lama meets Lal Bahadur Shastri at Parliament House, New Delhi.

Dalai Lama was born into a humble family of farmers as one of 16 children, and one of the three reincarnated Rinpoches in the same family.

Dalai Lama wearing a ceremonial Tibetan chuba.

Dalai Lama in Lhasa, circa 1956

Dalai Lama at age of 23 during his escape to India in 1959.

Dalai Lama at age of 23 rides a horse during his escape to India in 1959.

Dalai Lama at age 23 during his final Geshe Lharampa examinations in Lhasa, Tibet which took place from the summer of 1958 to February 1959

The Dalai Lama performs his first ever Avalokiteshwara Kalachakra initiation at age 19 in 1954.

Dr. V.S. Jha, Vice-Chancellor of the Banaras Hindu University confers the an honorary Doctor of Letters on His Holiness the Dalai Lama at a special convocation in December 1956 in India.

Dalai Lama at age of 21 being received by the Chogyal of Sikkim, Gangtok, India in 1956. 

Dalai Lama at age of 5 sitting on the throne during his official enthronement ceremony on Feb. 22, 1940 in Lhasa, Tibet as he was appointed spiritual leadership.

Dalai Lama at age of 4 posing soon after the search party discovered him in 1939 in Kumbum, Amdo, Tibet.

Fearing for his life in the wake of a revolt in Tibet in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India, from where he led a government in exile.

The 14th Dalai Lama had become the joint most popular world leader by 2013 (tied with Barack Obama), according to a poll conducted by Harris Interactive of New York, which sampled public opinion in the US and six major European countries

Dalai Lama as a baby with his mother Dekyi Tsering, father Choekyong Tsering and elder brother Gyalo Thondup taken in Taktser, Amdo Tibet, circa 1935.

In this photograph, one of his earliest, taken at the age of 4 at Kumbum monastery in 1939.

The Dalai Lama had two Lhasa apso dogs, Senge (lion) and Tashi (good fortune). Here Senge sits at his feet in the sitting room of Swarg Ashram.