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This temple was built in the year 1939. It is a
huge temple, built across acres of land. It is
said that the stone used to make the statues of
this temple were brought from China and
Myanmar. This style of making statues is called
brusni style, and Chinese artisans are experts in
the art of carving. You can see
the idol of Lord Buddha right in front of you.
Along with the idol, you will also see pictures
of the five main Chinese religious saints Mozi,
Mencius, Lolaozi, Confucius and Zhuang Zhou.
Here is a golden opportunity for you to sit
before lord Buddha and reflect or meditate.
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During his visit to India, when Hiuen Tsang
came to Sarnath, this temple was not there.
The MulagandhaKutiVihara of that time was
located at a little distancefrom this temple.
Hiuen Tsang has provideda detailed
description of that Vihara. He has written that
its height was about 61 meters. On the basis of
the remains of the temple and the style of
brick-making and decorations, archaeologists
believe that the vihara of that time was built in
the Gupta period.
With the passage of time that temple turned
into ruins. The temple which you see today was
built by AngarikaDharmapala, who came from
Srilanka and founded Maha Bodhi Society in
India. In the modern history of Sarnath, he has
a special place.
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Sarnath Deer Park
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MrigaVihara or deer park is a kind of mini zoo now, with
lots of deer,and some other animals and birds
as well. If you have children with you, then you
must visit this zoo. But even otherwise, if you
have an interest in birds and animals and like
to spend some time in the lap of nature, don’t
hesitate--go and visit the zoo.
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This stupa
was initially built here by Emperor Ashoka in
249 BC, who also build many other
monuments here.
Emperor Ashoka was one of the great kings of
Indian history and the third king of the famous
Mauryan dynasty. He was the son of king
Bindusara and queen JanpadaKalyani. It is
believed that he was born sometime around
297 BC.
Ashoka was a chakravartin king, whose empire
expanded to almost all of present-dayIndia
and Pakistan and also stretched up to
Hindukush and the border of Iran in the north-
west. To expand his empire, he fought
numerous battles and shed a lot of blood.
Then the dreadful battle of Kalinga happened.
Ashoka was shaken by the sight of such gore.
His distressed heart foundsolace in Buddhism.
He decided to give up violence and to move
on the path of dharma. The teachings of Lord
Buddha converted emperor Ashoka into saint
Ashoka.
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If India’s history and archaeology pique your
interest, then this place will turn out to be a
treasure trove for you. Towards your right, you
can see relics of an ancient civilization
scattered all around. These relics are extremely
important sources of historical information
about the area — its society and culture.
Across the enormous ground stretching to the
right of the path you can catch glimpses of the
ruins of an ancient Buddha Vihara, or
monastery.
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The broken pillar that you will see here is what
remains of the famous pillar of Ashoka now.
When unbroken, the pillar, like
Dharmarajikastupa, was very tall. Along with
stupas, Ashoka had built many pillars in the
whole of north India. The height of his stupas
was between 40 to 50 feet, and they weighted
around 50 tons. The broken upper part of this pillar is kept
well-preserved in a museum, right here in
Sarnath. A little later on this very walk, we will
go to that museum.
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Archaeological excavation started in 1904 in
Sarnath. Soon, such a large number of
archaeological artefacts were unearthed that a
need was felt to build an archaeological
museum here. Consequently, this museum was
founded in 1910. You can visit the museum
between 10:00 am and 05:00 pm. I hope it’s
not a Friday today, because the museum
remains closed on Fridays. Cameras and
mobile phones etc. are not allowed inside this
museum; hence, pause my narration, deposite
your electronic devices and then go inside.
It is probably not the biggest museum you
have seen, but it is an extremely important
one, simply because the top of the Ashoka
pillar is kept here. As soon as you enter the
museum, you will be able to catch the first
glimpse of this column head, made of
sandstone.
The entire museum is divided into many
galleries. Each gallery has a touchscreen
computer, which tells you about the artefacts
displayed in that particular gallery.
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Buddhism is an important
religion in South-east Asia, and many countries
from the region have constructed their own
temples in Sarnath. This temple that you see
now was constructed by the government of
Thailand, and it will give you a glimpse of the
culture of Thailand.. The Thai temple you will
observe thatthis temple stands right in the
middle of a big open ground. The temple is
not the only thing to see in this campus. There
are many beautiful statues here as well. The
moment you enter the temple campus, you will
see an extremely large statue of Lord Buddha.
This is the main attraction of this temple. At
the time of its construction, this was the tallest
statue of standing Buddha in India.
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It
is said that this is the place where Buddha first
met with his five disciples--Vappa, Mahanama,
Kaundinya, Bhaddiya and Ashwavijit. From
here, they went to the place where today
stands the Dhamekhstupa, and there,Lord
Buddha gave his first sermon. Here I must tell
you one thing -- the day when Buddha gave
his first sermon was the day of
VaishakhPurnima. Call it a coincidence or a
miracle -- the day when he was born and the
day he died were also Vaishakhpurnimas.
Today, in his honor, the day is also known as
Buddha Purnima.
As we move closer to the stupa, you should
know that this is the same road bywhich we
had come to Sarnath from Varanasi, which
means that we have completed almost one full
round of Sarnath.
It is said that this stupa was originally built as a
terraced temple. It was constructed in the 4th
or 5th century. Hiuen Tsang, the famous
Chinese traveler who visited Sarnath in the 7th
century, has described this stupa in his
writings.
This 93 ft. tall stupa is constructed on a
quadrilateral base. During the excavation
around this stupa, numerous statues were
found. Among them, the statue of the turning
of the wheel of dharma -- or Buddha
delivering his first sermon -- is the most
important one
