According to theological calculations in the vii c B.C. after the Buddha attained enlightenment in Bodh Gaya he came to Sarnath and, in the Deer Park, he delivered his first sermon the Wheel of Law (Maha-Dharmachakra Pravartan Sutta and the profound Anattalakhana Sutta).
The extensive ruins that today remain of the several religious structures that were raised between the iii c BC and the xi c AD are protected inside the Dear Park Archaeological site near the town of Sarnath, and the site, along with Lumbini, Bodh Gaya and Kushinagar, is a Buddhist sacred place, visited by pilgrims from all over the world.
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Sarnath
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Ruins of Sarnath archaeological park.
The Dhamek stùpa - In the iii c B.C the king Ashoka erected in the place where Buddha probably held his first sermon the Dhamek stùpa (contraction of Dharmeksha, "Vision of the Dharma") an almost cylindrical brick construction around 35 m high. The lower portion was encased in stone and adorned with bas-relief and four niches.
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Ruins of the Dharmajajika Stupa - Not far there are the remains of the foundations of the large Dharmaràjika stupa also erected by Ashoka, this monument, that should have contained some relics of the Buddha, was destroyed by a local ràja in 1794.
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Sarnath
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At the entry of the park, commemorating the place where traditionally Buddha met his first disciples there is the Chaukhandi stùpa, built between the iv and the vi C. it is a piramidal mound with an incongruous octagonal Moghul tower added later in 1588 A.D.
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Around the Deer Park there are also several modern temples; the Tibetan temple, the Japanese temple, the Chinese temple.
Further to the east is the modern Mulagandhakuti Vihara with its beautiful wall paintings.
The Sarnath Museum houses some of treasures of Indian art: beautiful Buddha's on carved stone and the famous Lion Capital once on top of the Ashoka Pillar.
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Sarnath
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