Thod
Pha pa is The Ritual of offering robes for Buddhist monks at
anytime of the year, especially after Buddhist Rain Retreat and
Pha pa means the cloth in forest. As the seasonal monsoon rains
falls over the kingdom, it marks the beginning of the Buddhist “rain
retreat” and the Buddhist Lent, or “Khao Phansa”, during which all
Buddhist monks retreat to the temples.
Thod
Pha Pa is basically taken place before “Khao Phansa”, which
is the period devoted to study and meditation in that Buddhist monks
remain within the temple grounds and do not venture out for a period
of three months. Also, Khao Phansa has been established for preventing
monks from trampling upon rice paddies when they ventured out to
receive offerings from the villagers.
Thod
Pha Pa’s history is actually related to Khao Phansa in that
during during Khao Phansa, monks were not allowed to receive clothes
from people so people intentionally left cloths at the places where
monks were always passing by. When monks could not go out during
“Phansa” period, the cloth offering then was accepted as items for
daily use.
For Thod
Pha Pa ceremony, the most important thing is that people have
to give the offerings to all monks, not a specific one. During Thod
Pha pa, they will make a vow in Pali language, followed by Thai
meaning as they are making merit. Then, the monks will reply and
bless the people and Thod
Pha Pa is finished.
After Thod
Pha Pa ceremony, however, , Buddhists visit the temples to offer
various kinds of foods and equipment, such as candles, lanterns
and fuels, indispensable to the monks during their 3- months long
Lent and that’s all for Thod
Pha Pa ceremony
Staff Team
www.morethailand.com
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