Thousands of Buddhist monks gathered at a temple in Mandalay, the second largest city of Myanmar, on Jan. 21, to participate in an alms giving hosted by a Thai temple that is currently dealing with a scandal involving the abbot, who is alleged to be involved in money-laundering. /VCG photo

Over thousands of local civilians attended the ceremony along with hundreds of monks from Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka. /VCG photo

The ceremony was held on the runway of an abandoned airport in central Mandalay. /VCG photo