Royal Kathina offered in Islamic Indonesia

Indonesian Buddhists wai monks during a royal krathin robe ceremony at Vipassana Graha Temple in Indonesia yesterday.

Former foreign minister Saroj Chavanaviraj presided over the ceremony at the temple of Vipassana Graha with thousands of Buddhists in attendance.

His Majesty the King offered the royal meritmaking to 11 Buddhist temples in 10 Asian countries this year.

The Kathina is a Buddhist meritmaking done annually for one month after the end of Vassa, the threemonth rainy season retreat for Theravada Buddhists.

Initiated by former foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan, a Muslim, the royal Kathina abroad began in 1995 and is offered at temples in predominantly Buddhist neighbours Burma, Cambodia and Laos to enhance social and cultural relations.

It is the first time in 13 years that royal Kathina was offered in Islamic Indonesia.

Of Indonesia's 245 million population, only 1.3 per cent are Buddhists, including Mahayana and Theravada. The majority of the followers are ethnic Chinese and Javanese.

Established by a Thai Buddhist missionary in 1988, the Vipassana Graha temple was the centre of Buddhism in the resort city of Bandung. There were eight Buddhist monks, including four from Thailand and four novices in the temple.

"Despite being a minority in the country, Buddhists have no problems with other believers, notably the Muslims here," said the abbot Phra Wongsin Labhiko Mahathera.

"We come here to teach the Buddhists to maintain their religion. We have no intention to persuade Muslims to convert to Buddhism," he said.

"If some of them have faith in our religion, they are welcome," he said and added a Muslim had converted and become a monk in the temple.

Good Buddhists could live in harmony with other believers, he said.

Buddhists here are faithful to their religion, said the abbot who has been in the temple for more than 10 years. "They strictly follow the religion even more than people in a predominantly Buddhist country like Thailand."

Youngsters are very much interested in religion as they ordain an average of 25 persons annually and at least some 60 children attend each training course, he said.