Thousands worship Buddha's finger in Taiwan

Thousands of people have worshipped a finger believed to belong to the Buddha at a stadium in Taiwan.

Hundreds of monks helped transport the finger from central China.

A flower-decorated float carried it through Taipei's streets to the stadium.

The finger, believed to be 2,500 years old, was behind a window in a miniature gold pagoda that Chinese temple guards brought to Taipei international airport.

Chinese monks then delivered the relic to their Taiwanese counterparts at a brief handover ceremony.

Chinese monk I Kong said: "Looking at the bone is like seeing the Buddha himself. We hope Buddha's finger could inspire friendly love and peace across the Taiwan Strait."

Followers believe that since the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), the finger had been stored in a cave at Famen Temple in Xian.

Some historical documents say emperors worshipped the finger in elaborate ceremonies before the cave was buried about 1,100 years ago.

Famen temple officials only rediscovered the cave and the finger in 1987 when rebuilding a collapsed pagoda.