- Kathina
Kathina is a Buddhist festival which comes at the end of
Vassa , the three-month rainy season retreat forTheravada Buddhists. The season during which a monastery may hold a 'Kathina' festival is one month long, beginning after the full moon of the eleventh month in theLunar calendar (usually October). In order to hold a 'Kathina', a monastery must have had five monks in residence during the retreat period and only those who were present for the entire retreat are eligible to receive the robe cloth offered.It is a time of giving, for the laity to express gratitude to monks. Lay Buddhists bring donations to temples, especially new robes for the monks.
Thailand
Kathin ( _th. กฐิน) in
Thailand is the name for the robes of an ordained monk [ name=ORID> [http://rirs3.royin.go.th/dictionary.asp On-line Royal Institute Dictionary] (ORID - 1999)] ; the ceremony of "Kathina" is called "Thod Kathin" ( _th. ทอดกฐิน). TheThai lunar calendar reckons the day after the 11th full moon as "Waning 1, Evening, Moon 11" ( _th. แรม ๑ ค่ำ เดือน ๑๑ "Raem 1 Kham Deuan 11" ). The presentation of "Kathin" by the King of Thailand or HM representative is called "The Royal Kathin Ceremony" and often has been an occasion for one ofThailand's Royal Barge Procession s.References
* [http://www.buddhamind.info/leftside/lifesty-2/kathina.htm Kathina - The end of the Rains]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
