Sarnath

Overview

Sarnath is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in Uttar Pradesh, India, near the city of Varanasi. Buddhist tradition holds that the Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, gave his first teaching here after his enlightenment. It is one of the four principal pilgrimage sites of Buddhism and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Pilgrims from Buddhist countries worldwide circumambulate the Dhamek Stupa, which marks the traditional site of the teaching, and worship at the temples surrounding the archaeological park.

Present

The archaeological site at Sarnath, including the Dhamek Stupa and the ruins of ancient monasteries, is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India, the government body responsible for the country's protected monuments. Active worship takes place at the modern temples around the site. The largest is the Mulagandha Kuti Vihara, a temple built by the Maha Bodhi Society, a Buddhist organization founded in the 19th century to revive Buddhism in India. Buddhist communities from countries including Thailand, Japan, China, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Tibet maintain temples and monasteries in Sarnath, and a Jain temple is active beside the Dhamek Stupa. Pilgrims circumambulate (walk around in veneration) the Dhamek Stupa and gather in the largest numbers for Buddha Purnima, the annual celebration of the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death, held on a full moon that usually falls in April or May.

Religious Significance

Buddhism (from the first millennium BCE)

Buddhist tradition holds that the Buddha, after attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, came to the deer park at Sarnath and delivered his first teaching to five companions who had earlier practiced asceticism with him. This teaching, known in Buddhism as the turning of the wheel of Dharma, set out the Four Noble Truths, the core Buddhist teaching on suffering, its cause, its end, and the path leading to its end. Buddhists also regard Sarnath as the birthplace of the Sangha, the community of Buddhist monks and nuns, because the five companions became the Buddha's first ordained followers here. Sarnath is one of the four principal pilgrimage sites of Buddhism, together with Lumbini (the Buddha's birthplace), Bodh Gaya (his enlightenment), and Kushinagar (his death).

Jainism (from antiquity)

Jain tradition regards the area of Sarnath, including the nearby village of Singhpur, as the birthplace of Shreyansanatha, the eleventh of the twenty-four Tirthankaras, the enlightened teachers venerated in Jainism. A Jain temple dedicated to Shreyansanatha is located beside the Dhamek Stupa and is an active place of Jain worship.

History & Structure

Sarnath developed as a Buddhist center from the 3rd century BCE, when the Indian emperor Ashoka, a ruler who adopted Buddhism and promoted it across his empire, built stupas (dome-shaped Buddhist shrines) and erected an inscribed pillar at the site. The pillar was crowned by a sculpture of four lions, which is now the national emblem of India and is kept in the Sarnath Archaeological Museum. Monasteries flourished at Sarnath for centuries. The site was destroyed at the end of the 12th century during Turkic invasions of northern India, and its buildings fell into ruin. Excavations beginning in the 19th century uncovered the remains. The Dhamek Stupa, the largest surviving structure, is a solid cylindrical tower of brick and stone about 28 meters in diameter. Its present form dates from the Gupta period, around the 5th to 6th century CE, and carved floral patterns cover its lower stone facing. The Mulagandha Kuti Vihara, completed in 1931, contains wall paintings depicting the Buddha's life. Sarnath was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2026.

Additional Resources

• UNESCO: Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath