The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is an autonomous non-governmental Indian NGO that seeks to preserve Indian Art and Cultural heritage. In 2007, the United Nations awarded INTACH a special consultative status with United Nations Economic and Social Council.

INTACH was founded in 1984 by Rajiv Gandhi who was also its first chairman. Its headquarters are in New Delhi, and today it has chapters in 117 Indian cities, as well as chapters in Belgium , the UK and the United States. INTACH is the only non-governmental Indian non-profit society working for the awareness and conservation of Indian culture and heritage.

In 2007, INTACH signed a memorandum of understanding with AusHeritage, Australia's noted heritage network, to collaborate on South Asian and South East Asian regional initiatives.

Among the tasks undertaken by INTACH are restoration of monuments and their management; advocacy for heritage property conservation; public awareness through heritage walks and buses; establishment of heritage clubs in schools; and holding of awareness workshop for teachers of schools and colleges and for the guides at various heritage sites.

The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Sino-Mongolian word далай (dalai) meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word བླ་མ་ bla-ma (with a silent "b") meaning "chief, high priest".

In religious terms, the Dalai Lama is believed by his devotees to be the rebirth of a long line of tulkus who are considered to be manifestations of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteśvara. Traditionally, the Dalai Lama is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. The Dalai Lama is often thought to be the leader of the Gelug School, but this position belongs officially to the Ganden Tripa, which is a temporary position appointed by the Dalai Lama who, in practice, exerts much influence. The line of Dalai Lamas began as a lineage of spiritual teachers; the 5th Dalai Lama assumed political authority over Tibet.

For certain periods between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lamas sometimes directed the Tibetan government, which administered portions of Tibet from Lhasa. The 14th Dalai Lama remained the head of state for the Central Tibetan Administration ("Tibetan government in exile") until his retirement on March 14, 2011. He has indicated that the institution of the Dalai Lama may be abolished in the future, and also that the next Dalai Lama may be found outside Tibet and may be female. The Chinese government was very quick to reject this and claimed that only it has the authority to select the next Dalai Lama.