The Kathina Ceremony will be celebrated at Wat Tampa on Sunday November 10, 2024. This ceremony is the culmination of events that started with the "rains retreat" or start on Lent. The Kathina (or Royal Krathina) occurs shortly after the end of Lent for the reasons explained below.

During Lent (roughly the rainy season in Thailand) monks could not travel.The monks stayed overnight in the same temple for three lunar months. The Kathina ceremony originates from the time of Buddha. The original ceremony was for a group of monks traveling to meet Lord Buddha. They were unable to completed their journey before the beginning of the rains retreat (Lent). At the end of Lent they completed their journey. Their clothes had become soaked and dirty on their way to meet Lord Buddha. When Buddha saw their condition he allowed lay people to offer the monks yellow robes. The tradition of presenting robes to monks continues today in the Kathina ceremony.

From a historical perspective the word Krathina has four meaning associated with it.

1. A wooden frame used as a tool to stretch out a piece of cloth before sewing a new robe
2. Any piece of cloth offered to the monks to make new robes with the tool described above
3. The name of the merit making ceremony. This ceremony occurs once a year and is considered a day to gain great merit. Robes are presented to monks in general, not to one particular monk.
4. The name of the Buddhist ritual.

You may have heard references to the Royal Krathina ceremony. There are, in fact two types of Krathina ceremonies as described below:

1. Krathina Luang (Royal Kathina) - these ceremonies at held at royal temples
2. Krathina Rart (Krathina Ratsdorn) - these are Kathina ceremonies held by lay people at public Temples