Richard Gere and the Dalai Lama at the Kalchakra puja in Bodhgaya in 2011. Telegraph Picture Alok Kumar

Gaya, July 7: From 4.30 in the morning everyday, chants of Buddham Sharanam Gachchhaami, Dhammam Sharanam Gachchhami, Sangham Sharanam Gachchhami reverberate through the serene Mahabodhi Mahavihara premises.

Today was no different.

Bodhgaya is home to at least 46 Buddhist monasteries belonging to different countries like Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan, China, Tibet, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Monks in charge of these monasteries and other devotees visit the Mahabodhi Mahavihara before dawn and also in the evening to offer prayers before the statue of Buddha installed in the sanctum sanctorum.

Monks have the status of a priest in Buddhism and it is their regular routine to offer prayers in the morning and in the evening. Tourists meditate at the shrine and also beneath the sprawling branches of the Bodhi tree.

During the off-season, normally from March to September, the Buddhist monks prefer to perform the rituals under the sacred Bodhi tree. They do a parikrama of the sanctum sanctorum of the Mahabodhi Mahavihara and the sacred Bodhi tree, which is just behind the sanctum sanctorum, and prostration between 4.30am and 9am and again in the evening from 6pm to 9pm, said Bhikkhu Priyapala, monk in-charge of Chakma Buddhist monastery.

The tourists arriving Bodhgaya from non-Buddhist countries just do meditation. But their timing of meditation matches with the prayer schedule of the monks during the off-season due to hot weather conditions during the day.

During the tourist season, October to February, when the weather is cool, the place starts buzzing around 4am. The annual prayer schedules of different sects of Buddhism like Kagyue Monlam, Nyingma Monlam, Jonang Monlam are organised between October and February every year. Every annual prayer schedule starts with a prayer for world peace.

During off-season, on an average around 50 devotees are seen on the Mahavira premises in the morning. In the peak tourist season, the number of devotees sometimes crosses 1,000 in the mornings and continues increasing as the day progresses.

The number of visitors also increases when the Dalai Lama visits Bodhgaya. The spiritual leader of the Buddhists had led the 10-day 32nd Kalchakra puja from January 1 to 10 when more than three lakh devotees visit Bodhgaya.