More than 3,000 Beijingers and visitors enjoyed a bowl of hot
porridge served by monks at the
Yonghe Lamasery in Beijing to observe China's
traditional porridge serving day.
Twenty-four giant caldrons of porridge which weighed 385
kilograms and was made from 29 ingredients were served, Gao Liqun,
head of the public affairs section of the lamasery told Xinhua.
Legend has it that when Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, fell
unconscious from hunger and exhaustion during his journey to find
virtue, he was saved by a passing shepherdess who feed him
porridge.
The gesture saved Sakyamuni who then went on to become Buddha on
the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month which falls on Friday
this year. Laba literally means the eighth day of 12th lunar
month.
The ancient Yonghe Lamasery used to serve porridge to the royal
family, as well as to Buddhists and the poor people.
"Nowadays, porridge served by the temples represents a blessing
from Buddha", Gao said.
The traditional recipe includes a mixture of different types of
rice, millet, chestnuts, red jujubes, lotus seeds, red beans, and
other ingredients including sugar.
Monks at the Yonghe Lamasery spent five days on preparing the
porridge mixture which took nine hours and 20 monks to cook.
"To show our respect to Buddha and the people we must ensure the
quality of these ingredients," Gao said.
Lao Yang, a resident from the Haidian District brought her own
pot with her so she could take some home.
"I'll share it with my family and hope they'll be blessed and
happy in the new year," she said. Chinese New Year falls on
February 18th.
(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2007)
