The Tham Vessantara-jAtaka - Khamkoo

hell. As a result of offering a little sesame oil to the Buddha, the woman was reborn in
the realm of the Three-Ten in a golden mansion twelve yojanas in extent. 18
Every year during the rains-retreat which starts from the middle month of July to
October, in the city of Kengtung, many monasteries arrange their own Th. VJ recitation
festival. The recitation may be performed in the early part of October or on other special
occasions such as funds-raising events for the monastery. However in the countryside,
people prefer to hold this recitation after their harvest cultivations. They would choose
three months, March, April and May, as they have to resume their seasonal cultivation
in July. This kind of practice is followed in parts of Thailand though each district has its
own customs regarding time and location for the ceremonies. 19
7.5 How monks are trained for the ceremony
Novices and young monks are trained to recite all kinds of recitation in the
monasteries. It is one of their daily duties to recite one of the JAtaka stories or one of the
suttas repeatedly until they are able to recite it without any fault. They have to be ready
whether there is a ceremonial recitation or not. It takes a few years for a novice to
master all kinds of recitation. For a ceremonial recitation, the invited monks are sent out
in advance with the sections which they are going to recite for the ceremony. Upon
receiving the invitation, monks have to devote their time doing rehearsals to be ready
for the day. As their recital parts are mostly either written on palm leaves or local hand
made paper, in hand writing, they have to practise reading them, sometimes, with
difficulty. They have to practise sustaining their voices for a long period of time. In this
18
19
Jean & Henry, VimAna-vatthu, Minor Anthologies of the PALi Canon Part IV, pp. 15-16.
Anuman Rajadhon, Thet MahA ChAt, pp. 8-9.
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