Otherwise known as Zhongyuan Festival or Ghosts’ Festival, Ullam-bana Festival falls on the 15th of the seventh lunar month and is a Buddhist festival dedicated to offering sacrifices to the ancestors. On this day, Diguan Dadi, the governor of hell, opens the gates and lets the souls out; people offer them food and drink on earth.
The word comes from Sanskrit and comes from a Buddhist ritual which originated with the legend that one of Sakyamuni’s followers saw his mother hung upside down in hell. He asked the Buddha to release her soul. The Buddhist monks were offered a hundred sorts of food on the 15th day of the seventh month under instructions of Sakyamuni. This way, his mother’s soul could be freed.
From the Liang dynasty onwards, people began to follow this custom which became the Zhongyuan Festival, which later stared to incorporate other activities into the festival.
It is the job of the Kitigarbha Bodhisattva to release the souls from hell and dishes of rice and flour peach are set underneath his seat. The Kitigarbha Bodhisattva is in front of the seat of the fashi, who carries out the ritual, and set up by the door of the village is a pre-prepared shigu platform. On this platform are a flag and three memorial tablets. Later on, cooked meats (duck, pig, chicken and sheep) as well as fruits and cakes are placed on it, as well. A triangular piece of paper is put in front of these offerings and each of these papers has a written message relevant to the occasion.
Beginning with music, the ceremony is opened by the fashi with the beating of a rhythm and chanted incantations. Rice and flour peaches are scattered three times on the floor. Come nightfall, families burn incense to the Buddha to pray for healthy crops.
Lanterns fixed to small boards are known as ‘river lanterns’ and are often colourful and shaped like lotus flowers. These lit lanterns are placed on the water, used by the spirits of people who have died unfairly. This mission has been accomplished when the lantern goes out; the spirits have been guided across the Naihe Bridge, in accordance with Buddhist legend.
Because spirits are not people, the lanterns made for them are different from those made for the Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao) and the ones for the spirits are not lit until they are already on the water.
Shops close for the ghosts and a table is placed in the in the centre of every street and laid with ghosts’ bread and fruit. This ceremony is called ‘Shiger’, during which songs for the ghosts are sung by Taoist people.
This festival is not as popular as it once was and is mainly celebrated in monasteries. It has, however, spread to Japan, where it has become almost as important as the New Year.
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