On 13 November 2024, Department of Religious Affairs under the supervision of Ministry of Culture offered Kathin robe to the southern temples of Thailand. Most Venerable Somdet Phramaha Wachiramangkalajarn, the Ecclesiastical Chief of South Region and the abbot of Wat Kaphangsurin, was the monastic chairman and Ms.Yupa Taweewattanakijbavorn, permanent secretary of Ministry of Culture, was the laypeople chairman. Mr.Chaiyapol Suk-Iam-director general of Department of Religious Affairs, Mr.Sawet Petchnui-deputy governor of Songkhla province, Mr.Chaiyaporn Niyomkaew-deputy governor of Pattani province, Mr.Veeraphat Buntrik-deputy governor of Narathiwat province, government officials and Kathin ceremony hosts of Southern Meditation Center also joined this ceremony.
Ms.Yupa Taweewattanakijbavorn related that Department of Religious Affairs, on behalf of Ministry of Culture, together with Dhammaduta Bhikkhus Thai Mission in India Nepal (DTIN), the southern monastic communities, Wat Phra Dhammakaya, the Southern Meditation Center of Songkhla province, Provincial Cultural Office, National Office of Buddhism, Southern Border Provinces Administration Centres of Songkhla, Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani organized the project of offering Kathin or forest robe to 302 southern temples without hosts of Kathin robe offering in honor of the king’s 72nd birth anniversary. The main purposes are to develop temples in the 4 southern provinces and encourage monks to maintain Buddhism in the civil unrest areas.
Ms.Yupa T. added that southern provinces are the insurgency areas for many years, causing the lack of Kathin ceremony hosts for the southern temples. Then it’s the role of Ministry of Culture to restore the tradition and culture including Buddhism. Dhammaduta Bhikkhus Thai Mission in India Nepal (DTIN), led by Venerable Phradhamphothiwong as its head and Venerable Phravideshwatcharajarn as its secretary realized this existing problem of southern temples and carried out the project of Kathin or forest robe offering to 302 temples in honor of the king’s 72nd birth anniversary in order to maintain the Buddhist tradition of laypeople.
Venerable Phrakhrupaladrattanaveerawat, abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya related that Buddhism depended on the unity of the four Buddhist communities to extend its longevity for the refuge of all human beings. Wat Phra Dhammakaya coordinated with Dhammaduta Bhikkhus Thai Mission in India Nepal (DTIN), government and private sectors and other social networks to support the monastic communities within and outside Thailand and dedicated its merit to the king on occasion of his 72nd birth anniversary.
