Lapa Festival: The eighth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar In ancient times, the December sacrifice to the "gods" was called Lapa, so the twelfth month of the lunar calendar is called Lapa. On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, the old custom to drink Laha congee. Legend has it that Siddhartha Gautama attained Buddhahood on this day, so monasteries cook congee for Buddha every day, and then folk custom until today. Laha Festival customs Laha Festival: drinking Laha congee. Lapa Festival (the eighth day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar), the Chinese people have the traditional custom of eating Lapa congee. "Laha congee" is also known as Buddha porridge, Fukushou porridge, five flavors porridge and seven treasures porridge. According to the "Dictionary" "Laha congee" article in the cloud: "December 8 for Shakyamuni Buddha's completion of the day, so the temple to take the incense and fruit congee for the Buddha. After that, the folk also followed the custom." Legend has it that the Chinese custom of eating congee on the 8th day of the 12th month is from India. Siddhartha Gautama, in the northern part of ancient India (now Nepal), saw that all beings suffered from the pain of birth, old age, sickness and death, and was dissatisfied with the rule of the theocracy (Brahmins), and thus left his home for monasticism, and after six years of austerity, he attained enlightenment and became a Buddha under the Bodhi Tree on the eighth of Lunar New Year. Siddhartha Gautama in six years of asceticism, daily only eat a hemp and a rice, the descendants do not forget his suffering, in the December 8 every year, everyone to hemp, rice porridge, porridge as a commemoration of the day, so the "Laha" has also become the "anniversary of the Buddha's enlightenment". Later, the introduction of Buddhism into China, Buddhist temples around the bath will be, chanting and other rituals, also follow the example of Sakyamuni before he became a Taoist, with incense grain, or hemp, rice and other congee for the Buddha, said "Laha congee". Monasteries and Laha congee will be given to the disciples and good faith to share, since then, Laha Festival to eat Laha congee will be in the folk custom. The origin of Laha Festival - a traditional Chinese custom It is reported that some monasteries in China before the eighth day of the first month of the Lunar New Year, by the monks holding a golden pellet, everywhere along the street (way), the collection of rice, millet, jujube, hemp, nuts and other materials such as Laha congee, distributed to the people to eat is said to get the blessing of the Buddha, so people call it to do! "Buddha congee". Lu You of the Southern Song Dynasty wrote a poem: "This day, the Buddha congee more feed each other, and realize that the Jiangcun festival new things." The famous Hangzhou Tianning Temple, there is a storage of leftover rice "stacks of rice building", the temple monks every day to get the leftover food exposure, accumulation of a year to the eighth day of the month of the congee, for the faithful to enjoy, known as "longevity congee". Southern Song Dynasty Zhou Mi, "Old Story of Wulin" recorded: "with walnuts, pine nuts, milk mushrooms, persimmon mushrooms, persimmon corn, etc. to make porridge, called 'Laha congee'." Since then, the folk also called it "five flavors porridge". Touch Media In ancient times, some places, remote and poor, the folk are with red beans, glutinous rice cooked, and then gradually increase the material, only to add jujube, chestnut, peanut, white fruit, lotus seed or lily, etc., so it is also known as the "seven treasures porridge". To date, China's northeast, northwest, south of the Yangtze River and other regions, people still maintain the Lapa Festival to eat Lapa congee custom.