Gaya: Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee (BTMC) organized Maha Kathina Civara Dana (robe offering) ceremony at world heritage Mahabodhi Mahavihara on Sunday.
The ceremony was the first among 41 annual events to be organized during 2024-25 tourist season. The series of annual events will continue till March 21.
During the robe-offering ceremony, around 800 monks of Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions of Buddhism from monasteries of different countries participated in special prayers under the sacred Bodhi tree on Mahavihara campus on Sunday morning.
In the evening, the monks participated in special prayers, recited in Pali, for world peace under Mahavihara chief priest Bhikkhu Chalinda. The monks also offered prayers in Tibetan and Sanskrit, where Lama Tenzin guided them.
They then lit 3,333 candles to commemorate Buddha’s dharma teachings to his mother queen Maya during three-month Varshawaas (rainy retreat) in Tavatimsa Heaven.
Bhikkhu Chalinda said as per Buddhist tradition, the robe offering ceremony is organized after the end of Varshawaas by the Buddhist monks. “During Varshawaas, the monks remain indoors, practising meditation and offer prayers. Along with the robe, devotees also donate other daily use items to the monks.”
On Sunday, Shifu Bhant of BTMC panel was offered the ‘kathina civara’ after Varshawaas.