Dæhæna - Monthly e-Newsletter October 2020 Volume 15 Issue 10 Volume 1, Issue 1 Radio 4EB Sri Lankan Group Web Address: https://4ebsrilankan.wordpress.com/ Contact:
[email protected] The Significance of Katina Robe Offering Celebrating Older Persons and Grandparents The month of October is important to Buddhists all over the world The month of October marks two days to celebrate the senior citizens. as it is the time for annual Katina Robe Offering Ceremony in tem- The United Nations International Day for Older Persons (UNIDOP) ples. It is a practice since Buddha’s days for the Buddhist Monks to falls on 1 October while the last Sunday of each year is the Australian observe a three-month seclusion period starting from the month of Grandparents Day (AGD). July, and conduct special Dhamma programs including meditation Globally, there were 703 million persons aged 65 or over in 2019. Over retreats in Buddhist temples. The culmination of this special period the next three decades, the number of older persons worldwide is pro- is all lay devotees getting together and offering monastics gifts such jected to more than double, reaching more than 1.5 billion persons in as robes and alms. This year in Brisbane, the Katina ceremonies in 2050. All regions will see an increase in the size of the older population Forest Lake and Goodna temples have been scheduled to be held between 2019 and 2050. on the last week of October and first week of November, respec- tively. This year (2020) marks the 30th anniver- The tradition and the sary of the UNIDOP.