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)