Kathina Ceremony 2016

The Kathina Ceremony is a Buddhist holiday, which is celebrated on October 23, 2016 in Thailand. The date is based on the three-month rainy season and therefore varies from year to year. It is a ceremony in which the Buddhist monks receive new robes. As this action constitutes a gift to the monks, it is forbidden for them to ask for these celebrations or to organize them.

During the rainy season monks should only travel when it is absolutely necessary. The Kathina Ceremony is therefore also a time of new beginnings and of carrying on. Mendicant monks continue with their lifestyle and new ones come to the monastery. The celebrations are also accompanied by one of the biggest fundraisers of the Buddhist year. Here the monks get their new robes, which they only can obtain in two ways: through donations or they have to look for them in cities, cemeteries and other places.