- The community preparing for the work period
- The community preparing for the work period
- The community at work cleaning.
- The community at work cleaning
- Tan Kovilo sorting books.
- Perusing some books in the new reading area
- Perusing some books in the new reading area
- Newly-ordained monk Tan Dhammavaro bows to Luang Por Pasanno, his Preceptor.
- Monks receiving food for the meal
- Mist above the Abhayagiri mountain
- 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.
- 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 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.
- 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.
- 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.