Due to geographic and climate difference with India the birthplace of Buddhism, East Asian region, belonging to Northern Buddhism, shows not only a number of different religious rituals from India but also different forms of monk`s robes (Kasaya) - th...
Due to geographic and climate difference with India the birthplace of Buddhism, East Asian region, belonging to Northern Buddhism, shows not only a number of different religious rituals from India but also different forms of monk`s robes (Kasaya) - the first symbol conveying the message of the Buddha. While Buddhist priests in Southern Buddhism used to wear simple rectangular robes not different from India, those in Northern Buddhism have developed their own clothing style by adding some more materials because their climate conditions didn`t allow them to live on simple robes. This caused lots of changes to monk`s robes. Having started as ordinary clothes in India, monk`s robe eventually positioned itself as the Buddhist priest`s official robe in line with the settlement of religious system and order. And along with the spread of Buddhism to East Asia it has settled down as `adorned monk`s robe`. As Buddhism further prospered backed up by the royal families, fabrics used for adorned monk`s robe also became diverse and gorgeous. While there remained records about adorned monk`s robes until the early Joseon era, this study found adorned monk`s robes were since shown at Buddhist hanging paintings, monk portraits and nectar rituals.