Siliguri/Dharamshala, Feb. 10 -- Gyalo Thondup, elder brother of the 14th Dalai Lama, died at Kalimpong in West Bengal's Darjeeling district on Saturday evening, leaders of the local Tibetan community said.

Thondup was 97 and had been suffering from age-related ailments for a long time. He lived with his two sons and their families near St Philomena's School in Kalimpong.

The funeral will take place on Tuesday morning.

The Dalai Lama presided over a memorial prayer service for Thondup at Tashi Lhunpo monastery in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, on Sunday.

Born in 1928 at Taktser village in the Amdo region of Tibet, Thondup was the second-eldest among the Tibetan spiritual leader's six siblings. He played a key role in the movement for Tibet's f...