Titled the ‘Water and Land Great Deliverance Puja’, it will see 80 monks including 40 from China joining the event.

Organised by Butterworth Lay Buddhist Society for its 35th anniversary celebration, its president Low Chuan Kee said it would take place from Dec 25 to Jan 1.

“The event will be held at our premises in Kampung Baru, Sungai Puyu. This is our first time and it will be a source of great merit for all Buddhists,” Low said.

He added that the highlight of the event included a dinner for 1,000 people.

The puja is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition attributed to the Chinese emperor Wu of Liang (464-594A.D.) who was believed to have met Bodhidharma, the first Zen patriarch of China.

Buddhist traditions state that Wu dreamed of a monk who asked him to hold a ceremony to help beings in the lower realms to be freed from their sufferings.

Also called the Liberation Rite of Water and Land, the week-long event was for Buddhists to perform meritorious rites to help free beings trapped in the lower realms and improve their own lives.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng recently donated RM80,000 to the association from his office’s allocation to fund the event.

Also present to give the donation were Bagan Jermal assemblyman Lim Hock Seng and Sungai Puyu assemblyman Phee Boon Poh.

For details, visit the society’s public Facebook group.