Is laughing budha a ritual

Answer 1

Laughing Buddha (what people call) is definitely not the Buddha. He is believed to be a monk or a god by many people. I have no idea why people usually confuse him with the Gautama Buddha because they two had no similarities.

This god is never worshiped in (Theravada) Buddhism.

The Buddha never laughed (at anything) because the Buddha was already free from all kinds of suffering, like laughing, crying, fear, worry, etc. Instead, he occasionally smiled at certain events in the presence of his disciples when he would like to teach his disciplines based on them.

The Buddha was not bald. The Buddha's sublime features included his hair knot over his head.

He also did not put beads around his neck and in his hand. Since beads are related only to Hinduism, (Theravada; pure) Buddhism has nothing to do with beads. Moreover, the Buddha was not very fat with a protruding belly. The Buddha possessed a very sublime golden body of medium size. In addition, the Buddha did not expose his belly (front body) like the stout laughing deity (named Budai). The Buddha wore a golden robe with/without the right arm exposed.

The answer is: the laughing buddha is not a ritual in (pure) Buddhism.