Kathina is a celebration to end the rainy season in the traditional Buddhist calender. It is the time that lay people offer cloth to the monastics who have spent the last three months living at the temple.

At Bhavana the day starts with a chanting dedication to the Buddha at 10:30 am. After that the lay people offer food to the monastics around 11:15. As soon as everyone is finished eating the official offering of robe cloth begins. Then there is a Dhamma talk given to the public.

No registration is necessary unless you would like to stay overnight.
If you would like to spend time at Bhavana before or after Sunday, please use the Visit Registration form. If you would like to bring things to offer to the monastery, see our items to donate page.

More about Kathina
Although we have a celebration on a single day, Kathina is a period of one month, following the end of the Vassa or rains retreat, during which the laity offer material requisites to the Sangha, usually in the form of special robes or cloth. Only those Monastics who have been in residence for the entire retreat are able to accept the robes offering, and it is the monastics who determine who the recipient will be. Originally kathina marked the period in which the monastics were able to resume their wandering after the required three months residency during the rains retreat. The laity offered them new robes before they set out. The word "kathina" comes from the name of the sewing frame used to make the robe.

Note: First time people should be at Bhavana by 4:30 p.m. on the first day of the retreat. Everyone else should be here by 5:00 p.m.. All retreats end after lunch on the last day.

Although every retreat is slightly different here is a typical retreat daily schedule.