Date : 31/10/2010
Venue : Sri Lankaramaya Temple
30C St Michaels' Road
Pictures taken from 630am
( Pics from 530 am were not captured, a procession from Jalan Taman,
carrting the white offer cloth for Kathina )
July 9th, 2010
Author: admin
Kathina, also called Kathen or pinkama Kathina is a Buddhist ceremony held in the Theravada regions during the month following the end of the annual monastic retreat (October-November). On this occasion, the laity to the monks offer a piece of fabric they must transform into a night in a monastic robe.
Other useful gifts and a meal are also available. The ceremony takes place mostly in a monastery, but can also take place in a ballroom or a private room. Traditionally, the cloth is first little display in the village or neighborhood, sometimes accompanied by a tree in which offerings are hung other gifts.
Rules kathina
The tradition of kathina, Sanskrit name of a kind of frame used to stretch the fabric during the sewing is very old and assigned by the Vinaya the Buddha himself. The monks who observed the rules are entitled to a share of donations from fabric made in the monastery during the month, and benefit from an easing of rules (five to six fewer) for a period of up five months.
They are, for example, must notify the other monks of their journeys or to take the prescribed three dresses in all their movements, they can accept as many gifts that they will receive clothing and food donations that are not presented in the rules.
The kathina can be observed by a community of at least five monks who spent three months of retirement in the same residence. Those who do not meet the conditions specified in the presence of Vinaya are excluded. The piece of cloth about three meters long, is presented to the entire community which offers solemnly to one of them, supposedly the poorest, the most learned or older.
he fabric is then washed away and will be cut, sewn and dyed before dawn the next day by all the monks or a designated group if the community is important. When the garment, called mahakathina is completed, the candidate symbolically extends the framework and calls on others for approval.
Participants in the ceremony can then “roll through”, that is to say, enjoy the relaxation of regulations. At the end of the period authorized kathina also called, they must “fold under” again and follow all the rules.
Origin
It comes in the Pali canon of a group of thirty to fifty monks visiting Savatthi to spend the rainy season with the Buddha. Having failed to arrive on time, they stopped on the way and set off again at the end of three months mandatory, regardless of rain, she had not stopped, they got drenched destination.
Perhaps it is comforting for that Gautama decided to renew their wardrobe and to temporarily waive certain rules. Another possible explanation is that the month following the retreat was devoted to the joint development of the closet, and that some rules were relaxed to facilitate this work.
While donations of the laity in general sufficient to satisfy the fashion needs of monks, the tradition of sewing together has been maintained because it helps to bond the community. The dress made in a night reminiscent of the Mahaprajapati Gautami, adoptive mother of the Buddha and Dean nuns wove for her son.
Local Holiday
The kathina for the monastery is a special day during which the laity and some monks or nuns other communities are invited. Although the rules forbid the monks to solicit a gift of cloth lay people, the tradition is firmly entrenched and the date of the ceremony is usually discussed in advance between the monks and the associations of the faithful.
The various temples in the region want their kathina at different dates. As in all Buddhist festivals, some lay it to acquire more merit, benefit to speak with the abbot vow to observe the precepts. If the temple is rich, the surplus must be distributed gifts to the poor. The local temple kathina is a day of celebration for everyone.
Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathina
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