A woman enjoys Laba porridge as she talks with others at the Yonghe Lama Temple, Jan 17, 2016. [Photo by Guan Xin/China Daily]

The folk tale about Sakyauni records that he had spent six years practicing Buddhist doctrine in a forest alongside a river, without eating anything.

As his starvation had reached its bodily limit, a shepherdess wandered by and shared some porridge with him.

After regaining his strength, he achieved enlightenment at the age of 35, hence the tradition of making the special porridge to honor the god, which spread across China.