Kathina Day (Buddhist)
Vassa begins with the first waning of the moon in the eighth lunar month (normally July), and ends on the full moon of the eleventh month (usually October) during which monks go into retreat for the rainy season. Kathina is a special ceremony, marking the end of this time, with the offering of robes and other presents to a monastery, ending in a public feast and the display of the gifts on a tree. An especially meritorious gift is the mahakathina (great robe), spun, woven, and stitched together by a number of people who must in theory do all the work in one night.
