upavasatha

Updated: July 5, 2026

Meals were supplied to monks in the monasteries and it was no longer usual to beg for food in the streets, since the practice is mentioned by I-Ching as exceptional. On Upavasatha days it was the custom for the pious laity to entertain the monks and the meal was sometimes preceded by a religious service performed before an image and accompanied by music.

Sir Charles Eliot - Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 2