The Kathina ceremony can bring everyone concerned, both the lay people and the monks, the most merit compared to other ceremonies not only because of the limitation of time but also because the ceremony is done as a Sanghadana. According to the Buddhist discipline, there are five benefits for the monks:
They can travel without informing any monks and receive no punishment for doing so.
They can travel without carrying a total of three pieces of the yellow robes and receive no punishment for doing so.
The monks can join the meal as groups and receive more food after they have started eating receive no punishment for doing so.
They can keep the yellow robes which are supplements for their regular robes for up to four months.
They can also expand the time restrictions for dealing with the yellow robes offered by the lay people until the middle of the fourth lunar month.