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Creation date / 2020 / All
- Dhammavavro stirs madrone bark in the steeping pot as Ajahn Ñaniko looks on.
- Distributing rice for the ceremonial alms round
- Doubly-thick, the sanghati requires one to sew four layers at once in a garment sized approximately 300 x 200 centimeters.
- Dressed in his triple robe set, Dhammavaro, center, receives his monk ordination from Luang Por Pasanno in the presence of the Abhayagiri monastic community on May 17, 2020.
- Dye drips from Dhammavavro's arm as he hangs his jiworn from a clothesline outside the monks' utility building.
- Familiarity with an industrial sewing machine can take time - foot and hand coordination is required to add stitches and maneuver the cloth successfully.
- Floral decorations courtesy of Apple and Nan in preparation for Songkran.
- Flowers retired from the Dhamma hall decorate an outside Buddharūpa in mid-April.
- From left, venerables Jagaro, Tissaro and Rakkhito walk to the kitchen in inclement January weather.
- Greeting lay guests in the sala
- Having sewed and dyed a formal robe, novice Dhammavaro hangs the cloth to dry in front of a skeleton used for contemplation. A candidate for monkhood at Abhayagiri must sew and dye a set of three robes before his ordination ceremony.
- Hundreds of lines must be sewn and errant stitches picked out by hand and then sewn again until the result is satisfactory. Novice monks may have little familiarity with sewing, and the robe-making process represents a trial-and-error process.
- In a process developed at the time of the Buddha, a robe will be flipped in three steps so the natural dye settles evenly on the cloth. This rotation also prevents "racing stripes" as dye drips down the sides.
- In the first stage of dyeing, the cloth is soaked in mordant - a solution which will help dye adhere to the garment. After rinsing off excess mordant, the cloth has a slight coloration, seen here.
- In the third stage of flipping, the dye is massaged into the cloth with the hands so that it remains in the center of the robe.