The Monlam Chenmo or the Great Prayer Festival has begun in Bodh Gaya today. During this great prayer festival the monks of three major Gelugpa monasteries ---Sera, Drepung and Ganden --- hold a series of prayers and also the candidates for Geshe degrees, the highest monastic degree, take their examinations before the assembly of monks. The examination takes in the form debate, questioned by the most erudite of Tibetan Buddhist scholars.