You are using an outdated browser and your browsing experience will not be optimal. Please update to the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Install Microsoft Edge

January 26, 2012

The Chula Kathin Festival

Subscribe to Updates
Sawaddi

Chula kathin, a Buddhist festival also known as kathin laen, celebrates the end of Buddhist Lent and allows participants to earn merit through the offering of material for monks’ robes to the temple. Celebrated in villages throughout Thailand and neighboring countries in the past, this merit-making tradition used to be held annually, but over the years only a few communities continued to carry out this religious ceremony. In the last few decades, this rite has been revived in some areas. In northern Thailand, Mae Chaem District of Chiang Mai Province was one of the first areas to reintroduce this tradition, and the festival has been held in Chiang Rai on several occasions. In northeast Thailand, members of the Phuthai ethnic group living in different villages of Mukdahan Province have been the primary organizers of this local religious festival, and it also has been held in Sakon Nakhon Province.

Download Full Article

RELATED INSIGHTS​ 

March 23, 2012
The Tilleke & Gibbins Textile Collection was featured in today’s edition of ASTV Newspaper, a local newspaper based in Bangkok. In an interview, Wipawee Tiyawes, Textile Curator, provided some key background information about the collection, including its 20-year history, the different regions that are represented in the collection, and specific details on the weaving methods for various textiles. One particular item highlighted in the article was a textile from the King Rama V period which, at over 100 years old, is the oldest textile in the collection.
Read More
February 27, 2012
On March 29, Dr. Linda S. McIntosh, Consulting Curator of the Tilleke & Gibbins Textile Collection,  will presents a full morning program on natural dyes. Over three thousand recipes for natural dyes exist. The use of natural dyes has declined throughout the world, but much of the knowledge has been forgotten. Some groups continue to apply natural dyes to their textiles while others work to preserve the knowledge. A 1.5-hour video entitled, In Search of Lost Color: The Story of Natural Dyes, will be played in the program, and Dr.
Read More
January 20, 2012
Dr. Linda S. McIntosh, consulting curator of the Tilleke & Gibbins Textile Collection, has planned a field excursion to broaden participants’ understanding of Tai Yuan textiles. This trip will take textile enthusiasts to the Mae Chaem Tiin Chok Festival of Chiang Mai Province, a festival named after the ceremonial skirt of the Tai Yuan. Textiles that have entered this year’s competition will be on display, along with demonstrations of weaving and other stages of textile production. Other traditional crafts will also be demonstrated, such as writing on palm leaf manuscripts.
Read More
January 10, 2012
The complex traditional belief system of the Tai requires different types of ceremonies for various purposes. Rites of passages, such as weddings and funerals, are elaborate, and textiles play important roles in them. Other rituals, such as those for healing, spirit appeasement, and honoring ancestors, call for woven accoutrements for their success. Although many Tai groups are Buddhist, pre-Buddhist beliefs are still part of the lives of the Tai people, and many Tai subgroups are not Buddhist but animist, or belief in spirits.
Read More