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| Sunday, 21 November 2004 |
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Month of Katina poojas end Poya Meditation by Sumana Saparamadu
The full-moon day in the month of Il (mid Oct.-Nov.) is a red-letter day in the Buddhist calendar. It marks the end of the Katina Poojas, the ceremonial offering of new robes to bhikkhus. In the past two or three weeks residents in Colombo and the suburbs and in other towns too, would have had their sleep disturbed by the drumming in the wee hours of the morning at week-ends. The drumming came from peraheras in which the katina robe was taken to the vihara. This disturbance will end soon for the Il full-moon is only 4 days away. (Incidentally Il means cold, and it is usually in this month that the cold weather sets in). The offering of robes began just after the full-moon of the previous month Vap, and thereafter there has been a katina ceremony somewhere in the island. Hence this month's epithet 'cheevara maasa' - the month of robes. Robes are offered to bhikkhus on various occasions, but the robe offered at the special ceremony held at this time of the year is called katina cheevara or katina sivura, and offering a katinv cheevara is considered more meritorious than offering a robe at any other time. It is considered one of the eight great acts of merit 'atamaha kusala'. The Sri Saddharma Sangraha by A. Mendis Gunasekera, from which I gleaned most of the information for this essay, does not explain why this is considered one of the 8 'maha kusala.' Offering of Katina robes is one of the very oldest if not the oldest Buddhist ritual, one in which both monk and layman participate. I believe - here I stand to be corrected it is the only ritual included in a Vinaya text the Maha Vagga. A section of the Mahavagga gives rules for members of the Sangha, together with the circumstances which led to the formation of each rule. The procedure to be followed from the making of the robe to its offering, what the giver and the receiver should do and say at each step in the ceremony are all set down and they are followed to this day. All other ceremonies and rituals pirith, alms givings, Buddha Pooja, Upasampada, began after the Buddha's Parinirvana. The current over done Bodhi Pooja goes no further back than 40 years. Katina Pooja is the one ritual common to all Theravada Buddhists, and it is one of the main events in the Buddhist calendar of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. At all Theravada Buddhist temples, be they in England or any other European country, America or Australia, Malaysia or Indonesia, the Katina Pooja will be performed, at sometime in the Cheevara month in accordance with the ritual laid down in the Mahavagga. Over the centuries each country has made slight changes to suit the changing times and added new features folksy elements to make the Katina more colourful and more attractive to ordinary one, women and children. It was the custom to offer the Katina robes in the early hours of the morning, even before sunrise, but it isn't stipulated in the Mahavagga that it should be so. At some vihara in Sri Lanka the Katina robe is always offered in the late afternoon. Katina is primarily the ceremonial offering of new robes to monks who have spent the vas or rain-retreat in a particular vihara. Not to any one particular monk-not even to the chief monk. This is also an occasion to offer anything that would be useful to the bhikkhus like medicaments soap, tooth powder etc., or to the vihara viz brooms, dusters, water-strainers. The Sinhala devotee with his usual ingenuity brought the Kap Ruka the wish conferring tree to make the 'Katina Pinkama' more attractive. The evening before the Katina is offered a large branch of a mango tree is planted in the hall where the ceremony will take place, and each devotee will bring his/her offering and hang it on the 'Kap Rukha'. These will be distributed among the bhikkhus who receive the Katina robe. Thailand's 'Tod Kathin' 'The end of October is the time for Tod Kathin the annual offering of gifts, mainly in the form of new yellow robes to the monks". says a tourist brochure is picked up on my travels. The brochure continues: "His Majesty the king himself a pious Buddhist, gives magnificent gifts to a great number of temples, both in the capital and outside. During this time processions of people in festive clothes carrying gifts for the monks may frequently be seen on their way to different temples. Whether by land or water, especially by the latter, these processions always present a gay and lively spectacle of joy and gaudy colours. "Indeed there are not many occasions in which the Thai delight more than in the grand Tot Kathin. On the river are tugs towing whole rows of gaily be flagged boats from which music and joyous laughter are heard across the water. The royal processions, however, are the most interesting a sight not to be missed by visitors who are in the capital at the time." Tazaungdian in Burma "On the full moon day of Tazaungmon - mid November in the Myanmar calendar houses and public buildings are colourfully illuminated for the Tazaungdaing festival. Katina robes and other requisites are offered to the bhikkhus. The offering of Mathothingan is on the eve of the full moon day of Tazaungmon. Mathothingan is a robe that is woven in a day. Today teams of weavers compete with one another to complete weaving robes overnight. The woven robes are then offered to the great images of the Buddha." This excerpt from the handbook "Welcome to Mynamar" published for the visit Myanmar Year 1996, brought back memories of a Tazaungdion festival 42 years ago. It was the eve of the festival and the platform of Shwedagon Pagoda was teeming with men, women and children and there were one or two groups weaving robes on handlooms. The woven cloth would be cut, sewn, dyed and ready for offering by dawn. There were pandals at vantage points and plays enacted on makeshift platforms by the roadside to entertain the city that didn't sleep that night. It reminded me of our Wesak nights. That was 42 years ago. I wonder how it is now. |
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