Sarnath

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sarnath, about 10 km from the holy city of Varanasi, is the place where Buddha chose to deliver his first sermon. The celebrated Mantra, 'Buddham Sharanam Gachhami', owes its origin to Sarnath. On the day before his death Buddha included Sarnath along with Lumbini, Bodh Gaya and Kushinagar as the four places he thought to be sacred to his followers. It makes Sarnath one of the most venerated Buddhist places. Besides Buddhism, Sarnath is also connected with Jainism. 

There are many Buddhist monuments and edifices in Sarnath. Some of the important Buddhist monuments at Sarnath are the Dhamekha stupa, the Chaukhandi stupa and monasteries and temples of different schools of Buddhism from Japan, China, Thailand, Burma and others. The Indian Buddhist society called Mahabodhi Society maintains a park around the Buddha temple. The Mahabodhi Temple within the park has a tooth relic of the Buddha. 

There is also a vast expanse of ancient ruins at Sarnath. Several Buddhist structures were raised at Sarnath between the 3rd century BC and the 11th century AD, and today it presents the most expansive ruins amongst places on the Buddhist trail. The Ashoka pillar of Sarnath is the National emblem of India.

Sarnath Museum

Sarnath has yielded a rich collection of sculptures, artifacts and edifices comprising numerous Buddha and Bodhisattva images and other ancient remains. To house all the findings and excavations at Sarnath, the Archaeological Survey of India established a site Museum at Sarnath. Finest specimens of Buddhist art and other important remains have been housed at the museum. 

While the single most famous exhibit of this museum is the lion capital, the Sarnath museum has a small but awe-inspiring collection of Buddhist artifacts. Among the things to see is a beautiful sculpture of the Buddha from the fifth century. The Buddha sits cross-legged, with eyes downcast in deep meditation, and a halo around his head. Also worth exploring are several beautiful figures of the bodhisattvas. 

Of other Buddhist remains there is an impressive and amazingly beautiful, life-size standing Bodhisattva and a delicate image of the Bodhisattva with a lotus and yet another bronze sculpture showing the Bodhisattva with multiple arms. The museum at Sarnath also houses an excellent collection of figures and sculptures from the Mauryan, the Kushana and the Gupta periods. Prominent of them is the earliest Buddha image found at Sarnath and many images of Hindu Gods dating from the 9th to 12th centuries.

The main attraction of the Sarnath Archaeological Museum is the superb Ashokan Pillar. It has four back-to-back lions, which has been adopted as the National symbol of India. Below this are representations of a lion, an elephant, horse and the bull.

 

Ashoka Lion Capital

The Ashoka Lion capital or the Sarnath lion capital is the national

symbol of India. The Sarnath pillar bears one of the Edicts of

Ashoka, an inscription against division within the Buddhist

community, which reads,"No one shall cause division in the order

of monks". The Sarnath pillar is a column surmounted by a

capital, which consists of a canopy representing an inverted bell

-shaped lotus flower, a short cylindrical  abacus with four

24-spoked Dharma wheels with four animals (an elephant, a bull,

a horse, a lion). 

The four animals in the Sarnath capital are believed to symbolize

different steps of Lord Buddha's life. The Elephant represents the

Buddha's idea in reference to the dream of Queen Maya of a white

elephant entering her womb. The Bull represents desire during

the life of the Buddha as a prince. The Horse represents Buddha's

departure from palatial life. The Lion represents the  

accomplishment of Buddha hood. 

Besides the religious interpretations, there are some non-religious

interpretations also about the symbolism of the Ashoka capital 

pillar at Sarnath. According to them, the four lions symbolize

Ashoka's rule over the four directions, the wheels as symbols of

his enlightened rule  (Chakravartin) and the four animals as

symbols of four adjoining territories of India.