FAMILIES of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army, Navy and Air) held the communal Kathina offering ceremony for 2025 at Anawrahta Hall of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army) yesterday morning.
Chairman of the State Security and Peace Commission and Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and his wife Daw Kyu Kyu Hla offered Kathina robes and alms to members of the Sangha.
Also, present at the ceremony were Chairman of the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, Presiding Patron of Thanlyin’s Minkyaung Pahtamabyan Buddhism Learning Centre Aggamaha Pandita, Aggamaha Saddhammajotikadhaja Dr Bhaddanta Candima Bhivamsa, Secretary of SSMNC Presiding Patron of New Masoeyein Monastery of Mandalay, Dhammathameikdi Monastery Sayadaw Aggamaha Pandita, Aggamaha Saddhammajotikadhaja, Maha Dhammakathika Bahujanahitadhara Bhaddanta Vasettha Bhivamsa, Ovadacariya Sayadaws of Uppatasanta Pagoda Board of Trustees, and 27 invited members of the Sangha.
The Senior General and his wife were accompanied by Commission Vice-Chairman, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, Commander-in-Chief (Army), Vice-Senior General Soe Win and his wife Daw Than Than Nwe, Commission member and Chief of the General Staff (Army, Navy and Air) General Kyaw Swa Lin and his wife, Union-level dignitaries and their wives, senior Tatmadaw officers from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief and their wives, and Tatmadaw members.
The Senior General and his wife, together with the congregation, viewed around the display of Kathina robes and offertories to be donated to monasteries. The Senior General paid homage to the Buddha image in the Anawrahta Hall and offered meals in the alms-bowl, water, oil, light and fruits.
At the opening ceremony, Thanlyin Minkyaung Sayadaw administered the Nine Precepts. Members of the Sangha recited the Metta Sutta.
The Senior General and his wife donated Kathina robes to Yezin KanU Monastery Sayadaw Aggamaha Pandita Bhaddanta Vilasa of Zeyathiri Township in Nay Pyi Taw and Kathina robes and offerings to SSMNC Chairman Thanlyin Minkyaung Sayadaw.
The Vice-Senior General and his wife offered Kathina robes and alms to SSMNC Secretary Mandalay New Masoeyein Monastery Sayadaw.
The Union-level dignitaries and their wives, the Commission member and Chief of the General Staff (Army, Navy and Air) and his wife, senior Tatmadaw officers from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief and their wives donated Kathina robes and offerings to members of the Sangha, respectively.
The Senior General and his wife, together with the congregation, listened to the answer and question session on Kathina affairs of two monks from Yezin KanU Monastery.
SSMNC Secretary Mandalay’s New Masoeyein Sayadaw delivered a sermon while the congregation shared merits gained.
After the ceremony, the Senior General and his wife, and the congregation offered the day’s meals to members of the Sangha led by Thanlyin Minkyaung Sayadaw.
The communal Kathina offerings of the families of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army, Navy and Air) were conveyed from the Anawrahta Hall to Uppatasanti Pagoda on 27 October.
At the ceremony, offices and departments of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army, Navy and Air) donated 90 Padethabin structures decorated with offerings worth K170,840,810 and currency notes worth K125,053,540, totalling K295,894,260 at the 2025 ceremony. Tatmadaw families from relevant offices and departments sent the donations to monasteries by car. — MNA/TTA
