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Cambodia: Khmer Buddhist monks take part in a Kathin ceremony in Phnom Penh in 1925.

Cambodia: Khmer Buddhist monks take part in a Kathin ceremony in Phnom Penh in 1925.

The Kathin Ceremony is one of the main merit-making festivals in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. The ceremony is about offering new robes to the monks who live in the Buddhist temples. The full name of this festival is 'Thot Kathin'. The meaning of the word 'Thot' is to make an offering to a monk, and the word 'Kathin' indicates an embroidery frame. The Kathin ceremony is held at the end of the rainy season in September when laypersons offer clothes, money, kitchen equipment and other tools to monks.

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