The annual Tipitaka chanting ceremony for which thousands of devotees have arrived in Bodhgaya from around the world started on Tuesday.

Devotees gathered at the World Heritage Mahabodhi Mahavihara when the ceremonial lamp was lit under the sacred Bodhi tree.

This is the 10th year the Tipitaka ceremony is being held. Every year, different Buddhist countries organise the event. It’s Cambodia’s turn this time.

Close to 5,000 devotees from 13 Buddhist countries, including Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, have assembled in the town to attend the 10-day ceremony. Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia have joined the event for the first time.

The Tipitaka chanting, aimed at world peace, began on Tuesday with a colourful procession from the Thai monastery to the Kalchakra ground, around 200m northwest of the Mahabodhi Mahavihara.

The participants would now spend the days chanting Buddha’s teachings in the form of shlokas from the Tripitaka, the holy text.

Chief abbot of the Thai monastery Phra Bhodhinandamunee said: “The holy text has three branches — Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka and Adhidhamma Pitaka. Vinaya Pitaka is constitutional guide for monks and other Buddhist devotees, Sutta Pitaka is the teachings of Buddha and Adhidhamma Pitaka is the philosophical extract of Buddha’s teaching.”

The original Tripitaka, the holy text of the Buddhists, is in Pali but chief organiser of the event from Cambodia, Hoeuy Metta, said they have arranged for translated versions of the holy text so that the devotees can participate in the chanting.