Which religion does Laba Festival originate from? What does Laba Festival mean?

Which religion does Laba Festival originate from? What does Laba Festival mean?
Introduction: Laba Festival is an important festival and also a festival of great significance. So which religion does Laba Festival originate from and what does Laba Festival mean? The twelfth month of the lunar calendar in 2018 is the end of the year and it is the coldest time of winter. As the proverb says: It is cold to speak so harshly. Follow Mr. Shui Mo's website and we will accompany you through the cold winter.

Which religion does Laba Festival originate from?

"Laba" is a grand festival in Buddhism. Before liberation, Buddhist temples across the country held Buddha bathing ceremonies and chanting sessions, and imitated the legend of the shepherdess offering gruel to Sakyamuni before he attained enlightenment. They cooked porridge with fragrant grains and fruits to offer to the Buddha, which was called "Laba porridge." Laba porridge was given to disciples and believers, and it later became a folk custom. It is said that before the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, monks in some temples would hold bowls and beg for alms on the streets. They would cook the collected rice, chestnuts, dates, nuts and other ingredients into Laba porridge and distribute it to the poor. It is said that after eating it one can get the blessing of Buddha, so the poor call it "Buddha porridge". A poem by Lu You of the Southern Song Dynasty says, "Today we are giving each other Buddha porridge, which makes me feel the festival food from the river village is new." It is said that there is a "rice storage building" for storing leftover rice in the Tianning Temple, a famous temple in Hangzhou. Usually, the monks would dry the leftover rice every day, and accumulate the surplus food for a year. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, they would cook it into Laba porridge and give it to the believers, which is called "Fu Shou porridge" or "Fu De porridge", meaning that eating it can increase one's blessings and longevity. This shows the virtue of the monks in the temples at that time to cherish food.

What does Laba Festival mean?

Laba Festival, commonly known as "Laba", is also called "Fabao Festival", which is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. The ancients had the tradition of worshiping their ancestors and gods and praying for a good harvest and good luck. In some areas, there is a custom of drinking Laba porridge. According to legend, this day is the day when Buddha Shakyamuni attained enlightenment, and is called the "Dharma Treasure Festival", which is one of the grand festivals in Buddhism.
The month at the end of the year is called "La", which has three meanings: one is "La means connection", which implies the alternation of the old and the new (recorded in "Book of Sui·Rituals"); the second is "La means hunting", which refers to hunting to obtain animals for offering sacrifices to ancestors and gods, and "La" is written on the side of "meat", which means using meat for "winter sacrifice"; the third is "La means to drive away epidemics and welcome spring", Laba Festival is also called "Buddha's Enlightenment Festival", also known as "Enlightenment Meeting", in fact it can be said that the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is the origin of La Day.

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