Buddhism
सारनाथ
Sarnath
“The first teaching, sounding across a garden where deer once roamed”
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Scenes
Meaning
In the middle of the wide deer park a vast cylindrical stupa rises, and pilgrims circle it slowly.
Buddhist tradition holds that here the Buddha gave his first teaching after enlightenment — the first turning of the wheel of dharma — one of the four great places of pilgrimage. The Dhamek Stupa stands as its emblem.
Field notes
- Location
- Sarnath · India · N25.4° · E83.0°
- Best time
- Early morning and dusk, when light slants across the Dhamek Stupa
- Getting there
- About thirty to forty minutes by car from Varanasi.
- Etiquette
- Quiet and the pilgrim paths around the ruins and the stupa are honored.
Sources
- · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- · Archaeological Survey of India
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