How to acquire a ticīvara (triple robe)

The Watercooler
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I am an amateur sewist/tailor interested in the construction of traditional robes, and was wondering if anyone knows a source to acquire them? I was reading SuttaCentral and decided I need to get one for myself. There is a site selling authentic traditional Tibetan Buddhist robes but I don’t trust anything only as being authentic or traditional if it’s Tibetan.

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This is not a source to acquire a robe, but it’s a thread exploring how to make one.

When it comes to robes, each Buddhist tradition has developed their own ways, depending on the materials available in their countries, the necessities of the climate, etc. And of course each one claims that their own way is the authentic one, I guess! :person_shrugging:

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I’m sure you have good intentions, but it does seem odd that you would think monastic robes are an object to be collected. It doesn’t sound like your question is in the context of wanting to offer a set of robes to someone, so I’m a bit puzzled. Non-monastics seeking to acquire robes so they can impersonate monastics is a real thing. So you might want to be careful with whatever your project is.

Any website selling robes will in all likelihood have factory made robes that probably won’t be made in any traditional way, whatever that might be.

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I would be careful making such proclamations. :slight_smile: I would think it hardly fits the pluralist Buddhist community or the harmony. People of different traditions post here, and it’s not very nice to say they’re not “authentic”.

You might not have a preference for it, sure. :slight_smile:

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I agree with what the others are saying, but will reply in good faith.

If you are interested in how Buddhist robes are made in the Theravada tradition then you can find sewing instructions here https://ticivara.github.io (this is a Thai style of sewing).

There is this whole discussion on how robes are sewn across the Theravada world. As you can see, the Sri Lankans and the Thais have different methods.

I don’t think you need to buy robes to understand how they are sewn. If, as you say, you are interested from a tailoring perspective this should scratch that itch.

If you are wishing to offer robes to a monastic, this is a source for acquiring robes to offer. They are not cheap but are good quality. The seams are absolutely tiny and not a great example if you are trying to learn to sew them yourself. It is a very noble act to learn to sew robes to offer. I hope that this is your aspiration.

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Thank you and everybody to make these points very clear. I was assuming this sort of intention as well when I was posting my reply, but missed to make it explicit.

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I don’t mean to “collect” them (though, if someone wanted to that’s their business, I don’t see what the problem would be) - I want to examine the construction, to be able to construct similar garments in a respectfully authentic way, as a learning exercise.

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I don’t mean inauthentic as in “not according to suttas” or such, but I distrust the ones I found looking around online actually come from a Tibetan monastery or are appropriate for monastics in the Tibetan tradition. As Snowbird said, they’re probably mass-manufactured at a factory somewhere. “Tibetan” is used as a spirituality buzzword and profiteers misrepresent products and sources all the time in that industry.

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Are you looking specifically for Tibetan style robes? Most of us are Theravada leaning, so you might not get many leads here.

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I’m interested in all the major traditions, to hopefully find a better understanding of the intersection of history, tradition and faith in regards to tailoring. I am probably more interested in Theravadin robes, as I believe the nikayas of the Pali canon to be the most accurate record of the early Buddhist texts, so I came rushing to Suttacentral intentionally. I know you lurk here, so thank you for the resources.