The Buddha taught the first monks and nuns to make their robes of "pure" cloth, which meant cloth that no one wanted. Types of pure cloth included cloth that had been chewed by rats or oxen, scorched by fire, soiled by childbirth or menstrual blood, or used as a shroud to wrap the dead before cremation. Monks would scavenge cloth from rubbish heaps and cremation grounds. Any part of cloth that was unusable was trimmed away, and the cloth was washed. It was then dyed by being boiled with vegetable matter such as tubers, bark, flowers, leaves and spices such as turmeric or saffron, which gave the cloth a yellow-orange color. This is the origin of the term "saffron robe." Theravada monks of southeast Asai today still wear spice-color robes, in shades of curry, cumin and paprika as well as blazing saffron orange. Nowadays, however, monks and nuns no longer scavenge for cloth but they wear robes made from cloth that is donated.
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