With the end of 3-month Rains Retreat (About July to Septmber), Monks throughout the country are free to move from place to place and eligible to recive new robes in an annual presentation ceremony call "Thot Kathin". Beside new robes,Buddhist literature,kitchen equipment,financial contributions and building materials e.g.nails, hand-saw and hammers etc.are also presented to monks to this occasion.
In fact the word "thod" means "making and offering to the monk" and the word "Kathin"literary means the "embroidery fram"used in sewing the yellow robes which,in those dats,were collected from rags on dead bodies in the jungle since clothes were not available in plenty as nowadays.Buddhist people regard the "Thot Kathin" ceremony as the most significant from of merit-making nest to the ordination of their clos kin.Thus,once in their lifetime everybody is looking forward to having and opportunity to be the sponsor of a Kathin ceremony as it involves a lot of time,manpower and expend.Above all,an advance booking must be made with the temple,otherwise,the chence to be a sole sponsor of the Kathin
may not be possible especially with the reputable temples.Nontheless,those who fail to be the sole sponsor of Kathin can also take part in the ceremony which,in this type ,is know as "Kathin Samakki" or the "United-Kathin"
meanwhile,for the royal temples such as the Temple of Dawn or the Reclining Buddha Temple ect.The King or his representatives will be the sponsor of the ceremony,and usually His majesty the King himself will present the royal Kathin robe to the Buddhist monks of Wat Po (The Reclining Buddha Temple) and other leading temple in Bankok especially the famed riverside Wat Arun (The Temple of Dawn).On this special occasion,the king will take a journey on board the Royal barges is the most beautiful event and visitors to Thailand should not miss a chance to take a glimpse wich remind them of Thailand forever.
a Kathin group will travel for several hundred kilometers by bus,train,boat or even by plane to present the Kathin robes and other necessities to monks in remote temples or in other countries were Buddhist temples are established.People thus hold this mmerit-making festival not only for earning merit for themselves but also for enjoying a fun-filled holiday free from the daily hectic life full of stress sn strain in the city.During the Thot Kathin period,it is very common to see Kathin processions traveling to and fro through the simpe method of enclosing a small amount of money in the white envelope given by friend or rerative.
It is to be noted that Kathin and Phapa(or theForest Robe or a robe left for the monk to take as a discarded cloth) are totally different for one another,in oother word,while the Kathin ceremony can be perfermed all the year round and at anytime suitable.In addition,while each temple is allowed to acept the Kathin robes ony one in a year,the Pha-pa robe con be presrnted to monks as often as possible.Evidently.the Pha-pa ceremony is less significant than the Khathin ceremony which requires greater preparation.Thus,th Khathin is treated as one of the most significant religious events and can take part from the king to the poor people in rural areas.