DHARMSALA, India - Taktser Rinpoche, the oldest brother of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, has died in his home in Indiana after a prolonged illness, the office of the Tibetan government-in-exile in India said Saturday. He was 86.

Rinpoche, a former representative of the Dalai Lama in Japan and a former abbot of Kumbum monastery in Amdo, Tibet, died Friday evening, it said in a statement.

After leaving Tibet in the 1950s Rinpoche taught Tibetan Studies at Indiana University, where he founded the Tibetan Cultural Center in 1979.

As a mark of respect, the offices of the Tibetan government-in-exile in the north Indian hill town of Dharmsala remained closed Saturday and a prayer session was held in the afternoon, it said.

He is survived by his wife, Kunyang Norbu, and three sons.