SINGAPORE Singapore and India are to coproduce Buddha's path to enlightenment in an 11 million Singapore dollars ($6 million) animated feature film.

The 2-D animated film, with 3-D background, will be a joint venture by Singapore's Economic Development Board India-based multimedia company Pentamedia Graphics.

Work on the film will take place in Singapore and Madras, officials said in a joint statement Wednesday.

The English language version of the film is slated for release at the end of next year, AFP reported.

Buddha was born Prince Gautam Sidhartha to Maya Devi and King Suddhodana of the Shakya Dynasty and according to tradition, he achieved enlightenment while seated beneath a tree in present-day Bodh Gaya in India.

He renounced his princely life at 29 and set out to seek solutions to the transience and suffering of human existence.