Even for Tibetan monks, it was too cold Tuesday.
Severe, icy wind made the air feel much colder than the recorded temperature of 1.3 degrees Celsius (34 degrees Fahrenheit) at Sarnath, the traditional northern India site of the Buddha's first teaching, and the Dalai Lama told followers to cover their heads.
Tibetan monks normally don't do that.
A cold wave has killed more than 1,600 people across South Asia, with more than half of them dying in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where Sarnath is located.
When the Dalai Lama saw shivering monks bundled up in maroon and saffron robes, sitting on mats for an outdoor ceremonial prayer, he urged common sense over tradition.
"Its too cold here, cover yourselves properly," the Tibetan Buddhist leader told about 200 monks at the Dhamekha Stupa, where the Buddha is said to have taught the principles of the religion he founded.
The Dalai Lama himself sat bareheaded and barefoot on a raised wooden throne to conduct the 90-minute prayer for peace at Sarnath, 725 kilometers (450 miles) southeast of New Delhi.
A cold wave has killed more than 1,600 people across South Asia, with more than half of them dying in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where Sarnath is located.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet after a failed 1959 revolt against Chinese rule. He was followed by more than 120,000 Tibetan refugees who settled with him in the northern Indian mountain town of Dharmsala, where Indian authorities have allowed him to set up a government-in-exile.