On 19 November 2021, the delegation of the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Kolkata, comprising Mr. Kasemsan Thongsiri, Acting Consul-General of Thailand in Kolkata, Miss Venus Asawapoom, Consul and Mr. Nutt Svasti-Salee, Consul, participated in the “Royal Kathina Robe Offering Ceremony” at the Royal Thai Monastery Buddhagaya in Bodhgaya, Gaya, Bihar.

                     This ceremony is held only once per year, and is one of the most important Buddhist merit-making occasions in Thailand, in which His Majesty the King of Thailand grants a Royal Kathina Robe to the designated Buddhist temples, followed by a merit-making ceremony with participation of dignitaries as well as lay persons from different Thai communities.

                     Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lay persons from Thailand have not yet been able to travel to Bodhgaya to offer the Royal Kathina Robe by themselves. In this connection, the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Kolkata played its role as the medium between the Buddhist communities in Thailand and the Royal Thai Monastery Buddhagaya - the designated recipient of His Majesty the King’s Royal Kathina Robe. The Thai diplomats participated on behalf of the lay persons from Thailand in order to bring the blessed Royal Kathina Robe, which had to be sent beforehand, to the hands of the Thai and Indian Buddhist monks residing at the Royal Thai Monastery Buddhagaya, thus completing and fulfilling the Buddhist duty to preserve this Buddhist cultural heritage of ancient Kathina tradition which has been existing since Lord Buddha’s time, in the Land of the Lord Buddha himself.

                     Moreover, in the evening of the same day, the delegation of the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Kolkata also joined the Loy Krathong Festival organised at the Royal Thai Monastery Buddhagaya.