Today we also had time to visit a local monastery called Mahagandayone. Yeah, easy for me to say. This is the home for over one thousand monks who live as well as study here. Guy monks are dressed in dark red, the gal monks are in pink, and the novices (little dudes) are dressed in white. We arrived at 10:00 a.m. to watch the procession of the monks through the monastery to chow hall for lunch. I know this seems really early for lunch (unless you teach at PMHS and are assigned 4th period lunch), but the monks rise at 4:00 a.m. for morning prayers and breakfast is served at 5:00 a.m. They have a very rigid schedule - each and every day. After breakfast there is study time, and then the monks head to the streets about 8:00 a.m. for the collection of alms. They carry large baskets through the village in hopes of receiving cash or food (rice, fruit, or vegetables). We were told they always have enough to eat - the villagers are very generous with their donations. Population of Buddhist in this particular area is 90% so they receive lots of support. After lunch (they snarf down food rather quickly) and then rest for a couple of hours before afternoon studies. We have some photos of the open-air kitchen and some of the chefs preparing their meals. Also, we included a couple of photos of the monks sitting at very, very long tables while eating. This was quite an entertaining morning for us.
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