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sitting cloth (zagu 坐具, gu 具, nishidan 尼師壇)

S. nisīdana. A rectangular cloth carried by monks and spread out to sit or make prostrations on. Originally a woven straw mat that monks in India used for sitting and sleeping on the ground, to keep away insects and protect their robes. In East Asia the sitting cloth came to have a largely ceremonial, symbolic use, and is rarely if ever laid on the bare ground.