END OF BUDDHIST LENT (PHANSA)
The end of Buddhist lent or Rains retreat means the expiry of three months’ retreat through rigorous practice of the rules of the monk’s discipline (Vinaya in Pali) by the monks in a fixed residence during the three months of the rainy season, which begins roughly from the middle of July to middle of October.
Phansa goes back to the time of Lord Buddha. The origin of Phansa tells us that at the start of rainy season in India (which more or less corresponds with that in Thailand), the time of year when farmers have been busy ploughing and planting, some farmer once complained to Lord Buddha that the wandering monks are trampling crops and ruining them.