BEIJING, April 27 -- The Buddhist Association of China (BAC) held a prayer ritual on Monday in Beijing for victims of Saturday's earthquake in Nepal.

Master Xuecheng, BAC president, called on the country's Buddhist circle to actively participate in relief and reconstruction in Nepal and Tibet Autonomous Region.

More than 2.2 million yuan (354,000 U.S. dollars) in donations was collected after the ritual, as well as relief materials, according to the BAC.

The 8.1-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal at midday on Saturday, followed by strong aftershocks. More than 3,000 people in Nepal and at least 20 in Tibet were killed in the disaster.

Zhonghua Monastery in Nepal, which is directly supervised by the BAC, immediately erected shelters for those nearby residents made homeless and provided them with necessities.