Preparing Robes for the Katina Ceremony
A traditional offering made on the Katina day is the offering of Katina robes. Buddhist scriptures show that the origins of the preparation of the robe go back to the times of the Buddha. As per the Mahavagga records,the Buddha saw the design of the fields of Magadha and he asked Venerable Ananda to design the robe modeled after these fields.
Therefore the monastic robes even today are prepared using the traditional design starting with cutting a white cloth into squares and rectangular pieces and being sewn together laid out to resemble strips, lines, embankments and squares as in a field of Magadha.
The robes are then dyed with colors made from roots, tree bark, leaves and flowers. The yogis worked with professional robe makers and prepared a robe for Bhanté Samadhikusalà, following these traditional steps.
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