WAH CANTT: A delegation of Thai monks which is on a three-month pilgrimage visit to Pakistan offered the first Kathina ceremony at Taxila Museum to mark the conclusion of their religious rituals of rain retreat.

The chief monk of the Sangha Supreme Council of Thailand performed the ceremony.

Envoys of Thailand, Indonesia, Sir Lanka, Myanmar and Islamabad-based diplomats various ASEAN countries besides Punjab Tourism Secretary Ayisa Gull were present on this occasion.

Gull told the media that the delegation of Thai monks had been in Pakistan for the last three months, and later over one hundred monks also arrived to join them.

She said their three-month stay was part of their ‘rain retreat programme’. It is known as an intense learning period in which monks live in one place during the rainy season for a three-month monastic retreat determined by the lunar calendar.

She said that the delegation also visited the Taxila Museum where its head rang the peace bell.