The Royal Thai Embassy joins Katrina ceremony at Dhammanglaram Temple in Sundsvall.

          On 23 October 2021, Thai communities from Söderhamn, Sundsvall, Västerås, Uppsala and nearby communities gathered in a Katrina ceremony at Dhammanglaram Temple in Sundsvall. Monks from Buddhasothorn Uppsala Temple, Buddhapavana Västerås Temple, and the Photitham Meditation House in Kalix came to take part in the ceremony. Ambassador Kanchana Patarachoke together with officials/staff from the Royal Thai Embassy and the Office of Defence Attache also joined in the Kathina ceremony.

          The Kathina ceremony is a tradition since the Sukhothai Reign and observed in temples throughout Thailand to earn merit through offering of robes and other essential items to monks who have completed three months in a monastery observing the rain retreat. A monastery may hold a Kathina ceremony only once during the one month after the full moon of the eleventh month in the Lunar calendar which usually occurs in October through November.