Monks Seek Buddhist Rule of Shrine in India

GAYA, India--Nearly 250 Buddhist monks ended a two-day siege of a shrine in India after the local government pledged to consider their demand for Buddhist control of the site.

The Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar state, is where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. It is managed by a nine-member panel of five Hindus and four Buddhists under a 1949 state law that says a Hindu must chair the panel.

Many Hindus believe Buddha was an incarnation of Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation, and Hindus also worship at the site. Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the hard-line group widely blamed for recent Hindu-Muslim riots in western India, demands a stake in the shrine.

The Buddhist protesters say their religion has no links with Hinduism. Buddhists comprise less than 1% of India's 1 billion-plus people.