Kathina
| Kathina | |
|---|---|
| Also called |
|
| Observed by | Bangladeshi Buddhist Burmese, Cambodians, Lao, Sri Lankans, Thais |
| 2016 date | October 23 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Related to | Vassa |
Kathina is a Buddhist festival which comes at the end of Vassa, the three-month rainy season retreat for Theravada Buddhists in Bangladesh (known as Kaṭhina Cībar Dān), Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The season during which a monastery may hold Kathina is one month long, beginning after the full moon of the eleventh month in the Lunar calendar (usually October).
It is a time of giving, for the laity to express gratitude to bhikkhus (Buddhist monks). Lay Buddhists bring donations to temples, especially new robes for the monks. In Sri Lanka offers Atapirikara අටපිරිකර (Eightfold Requisites).
Kathina is a Pali word referring to the wooden frame used to measure the length and width by which the robes of Buddhist monks are cut. As the legend goes, thirty bhikkhus were journeying with the intention of spending Vassa with Gautama Buddha. However, the rains began before they reached their destination and they had to stop at Saketa. According to Buddha's guidelines for Vassa, mendicant monks shouldn't travel during the rainy season as they may unintentionally harm crops and/or insects during their journey. As such, the monks had to stop.
The bhikkhus passed their time together without conflict and practicing Dhamma so afterwards, the Buddha rewarded the monks by demonstrating a way to practice sharing and generosity. A lay disciple had previously donated pieces of cloth to the Buddha, so the Buddha now gave the pieces to the group of monks and told them to make it into a robe and then offer it as a gift to one of them. A frame, called a Kathina, was used to hold the pieces while they were being made into one robe.
Kahtein (Burmese: ကထိန်, from Pali ကထိန) refers to the ceremony during which yellow robes called matho thingan (မသိုးသင်္ကန်း) are offered to the sangha between the first waning day of Thadingyut (သီတင်းကျွတ်, approximately October) and the full moon day of Tazaungmon (တန်ဆောင်မုန်း, approximately November) in the Burmese calendar. During this period, certain rules of the Vinaya are relaxed for monks. Kahtein trees called badaytha bin (ပဒေသာပင်), on which offerings like money are hung, are also offered.
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