The alms round, pindapata, the "dropping of lumps" of food into the bowl, is the daily practice by which Buddhist monastics gather their food, walking in silence through the villages and towns near their monastery in the early morning to receive whatever the laity choose to place in their bowls. The monk or nun does not ask, does not choose, and does not thank the giver: they walk with lowered gaze, bowl in hand, accepting in silence whatever is offered, whether plain or fine, and eat it as their meal for the day, usually the single main meal taken before noon. The practice embodies the renunciant's dependence and non-attachment, the monastic owning no means of producing food and living entirely on the freely given support of the lay community.
The alms round is the daily hinge of the relationship between the monastic order and the laity that sustains Buddhism. For the layperson, placing food in the bowl is a prime act of merit-making, an offering to the "field of merit" of the disciplined community that is held to bear rich fruit; for the monastic, receiving it is a discipline of humility and a standing reminder of dependence. The silent, undiscriminating acceptance also expresses a spiritual equality, the same bowl held out at the door of rich and poor alike, and the round remains a defining sight of Buddhist life in the Theravada lands of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, where the file of robed figures moving through the dawn streets marks the beginning of each day.