INDIA. Karnataka province. Bylakuppe. Sera Jey Tibetan monastery. Once every year, monks from the three main monasteries of the Gelugpa tradition (Sera, Drepung and Ganden) get together for debating sessions that start in the morning and go on all day and night for a period of three weeks. This year, the monks assembled at Sera. The Sera monastery is composed of two monasteries : Seraje and Serame. Monks debating.

Two or three years after their death, important lamas are reincarnated in the body of a child. The search for this child is based on the information left by the lama himself: dreams, visions and the intuition of other lamas. The Tulkus are discovered at 3 or 4 years of age, declared at about 4 or 5 and then enter the monastery at the age of 6. According to the rules of the monastery, each Tulku is instructed by a tutor and is either prevented or restricted from seeing other young monks from its age group. All the Tulkus are called Rinpoche which means "the precious one".