Bhutanese monk burns himself in Bodh Gaya

New Delhi, December 28: A Buddhist monk from Bhutan has burnt himself to death at Buddhism's holiest shrine in India, Reuters quoted Indian police as saying on Friday.

According to the reports from Bodhgaya, hundreds of pilgrims gathered at this holy place watched the monk, in his 80s, sit in meditation at the Mahabodhi temple in Bihar on Thursday and then set himself alight after daubing his body with a flammable substance.

He died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Bodh Gaya. Bodh Gaya, the holiest place for the Buddhists, is the place where Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment.

"People who rushed to save him were stunned to see that the monk remained firmly seated in the meditation posture and did not cry for help," a police official said.

"That means he had come to end his life in the land of the Buddha, apparently to get the ultimate freedom from life," he further added. Bhutan News Service