The traditional eating of the Laba porridge is part of the Laba Festival, a prelude to the Lunar New Year. (Photo : Global Times)
Thousands of bowls of the traditional laba porridge prepared at the Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou on Jan. 26 would be distributed to disadvantaged groups to commemorate the annual Laba Festival on Jan. 27.
This year, however, the tasty customary food had been specially made more for the disadvantaged people of Hangzhou, instead of offering them to tourists and other templegoers as per tradition.
According to Abbot Guangquan, about 300,000 bowls of porridge would be distributed to children's welfare centers, schools and nursing homes this year.
This comes amid the cancellation of the traditional offering of porridge to templegoers after the fatal New Year's Eve stampede in Shanghai.
According to the the Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs, the 1,700-year-old temple in the capital of Zhejiang Province had scrapped the annual event this year due to safety concerns and would instead hold a prayer ceremony where only 800 people are allowed to attend.
The Linying Temple typically houses an average of 10,000 guests every day, a number which dramatically escalates especially during the holidays.
Also called the "eight treasure porridge," the traditional food which contains rice, dried nuts and six other ingredients represents people's prayers for good harvest, happiness and peace.
The Laba Festival is customarily celebrated every eighth day of the 12th month of a lunar year, which in the case of 2015 falls on Jan. 27. The event celebrates the enlightenment of Gautama Buddha when he turned 35.
The festival is considered a traditional prelude to the Spring Festival, which is celebrated on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
