Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka.jpg

Sarnath (Hindustani pronunciation: aːɾnaːtʰ also referred to as Sarangnath, Isipatana, Rishipattana, Migadaya, or Mrigadava) is a place located northeast of Varanasi, near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Sarnath is where Gautama Buddha taught his first sermon after attaining enlightenment, and where the Buddhist ''sangha'' came into existence through the enlightenment of his first five disciples (Kaundinya, Assaji, Bhaddiya, Vappa and Mahanama). According to the '' Mahaparinibbana Sutta'' ('' Sutta'' 16 of the ''Digha Nikaya''), the Buddha mentioned Sarnath as one of the four places of pilgrimage his devout followers should visit.

Singhpur, a village approximately north of Sarnath, is believed to be the birthplace of Shreyansanatha, the 11th ''tirthankara'' of Jainism. A temple dedicated to Shreyansanatha in Sarnath is an important pilgrimage site for Jains.

Etymology

The name ''Sarnath'' derives from the Sanskrit word ''Sāranganātha'', which means "Lord of the Deer". The name relates to ancient Buddhist legend, in which the Bodhisattva is a deer and offers his life to a king instead of the doe the latter is planning to kill. The king was so moved that he created the park as a sanctuary for deer.

''Isipatana'' is the name used to refer to Sarnath in Pali, the language of the Pali Canon. This name corresponds to the name ''Rishipattana'' in the Sanskrit language.
The terms ''isi'' (Pali) and '' rishi'' (Sanskrit) refer to an accomplished and enlightened person. ''Isipatana'' and ''Rishipattana'' therefore translate to "the place where holy men descended".

Other names used to refer to Sarnath throughout its long history include Sarangnath, Mrigadava, and Migadaya.

History

Isipatana after the Buddha

Buddhism flourished in Sarnath because of kings and wealthy merchants based in Varanasi. By the 3rd century of the Common Era, Sarnath had become an important centre for the arts, which reached its zenith during the Gupta period (4th to 6th centuries CE). When Xuanzang visited Sarnath in the 7th century, he found that "There are about 1500 priests here, who study the Little Vehicle according to the Sammatiya school.

Sarnath became a major centre of the Sammatiya school of Buddhism, one of the early Buddhist schools. However, the presence of images of Heruka and Tara indicate that Vajrayana Buddhism was (at a later time) also practised here. Also, images of Hindu gods as Shiva and Brahma were found at the site, and there is still a Jain temple located very close to the Dhamek Stupa.

Kumaradevi, the Gahadvala queen, constructed the last structures at Sarnath. In 1193, her grandson, Jayachandra was defeated by Qutb ud-Din Aibak, a general of Muhammad Ghori. At the end of the 12th century, Sarnath was sacked by Turkish Muslims, and the site was subsequently plundered for building materials.

Destructions and demise in the 12th century

Islamic invasions , especially under the Ghurid Empire general Qutb-ud-din Aibek in 1193, bought massive plunder and destructions. Qutb-ud-din Aibek, the military commander of Muhammad of Ghor's army, marched towards Varanasi, where he is said to have destroyed idols in a thousand temples. Sarnath very likely was among the casualities of this invasion, one all too often seen as a Muslim invasion whose primary purpose was iconoclasm.

Jainism

Sarnath is the birthplace of the 11th Tirthankara Shri Shreyansanatha Bhagwan. It is the place where 4 of the 5 kalyanak (auspicious life events) of Shri Shreyansanatha Bhagwan took place.

;Shri Digambar Jain Shreyansnath Mandir, Singhpuri, Sarnath

It is the place of 4 ''kalyanak'' of Shri Shreyansnath Bhagwan. A huge ''ashtakod'' stoop (octagonal pillar), in height is still present showing its historical establishment. It is considered to be 2200 years old. The main deity of this temple is a blue-coloured idol of Shri Shreyansnath Bhagwan, in height, in Padmāsana.

Current features of Isipatana

The major excavated ruins are listed below, generally in north-to-south and west-to-east order.

Most of the ancient buildings and structures at Sarnath were damaged or destroyed by the Turks. However, amongst the ruins can be distinguished:
* The Dharma Chakra Jina Vihar, constructed by Kumaradevi, a wife of Gahadavala Govindachandra (c. 1114–1155 CE). An inscription mentions the building of this massive vihara. It mentions that Govindachandra had protected Varanasi from the Turushkas. This was the last construction at Sarnath before it was devastated.
* The Ashoka Pillar erected here, originally surmounted by the "Lion Capital of Ashoka" (presently on display at the Sarnath Museum), was broken during Turk invasions but the base still stands at the original location. The Lion Capital now symbolizes the modern state of India. The Lion Capital served as the base of a large 32-spoke stone dharma-chakra, which was found broken into many pieces. The seal of the Supreme court of India displays the Dharma Chakra as it must have originally appeared.
* The ruins of the Mulagandhakuti vihara mark the place where the Buddha spent his first rainy season. This was the main temple marked by the presence of the Ashoka Pillar at the front. The famous Sarnath Buddha in '' dharmachakra pravartana mudra'' was found in the vicinity.
* The Dharmarajika Stupa is one of the few pre-Ashokan stupas remaining, although only the foundations remain. The stupa was dismantled in 1794 by employees of Babu Jagat Singh (an official of the government of Maharaja Chait Singh of Banaras), and its bricks were hauled off and used for the construction of the market in Jagatganj, Varanasi. During the dismantling of the stupa, a green marble reliquary was discovered in its relic-chamber. The reliquary contained a few bones and some pearls, which were subsequently thrown into the Ganges river. The sandstone box was recovered by Alexander Cunningham in 1835, and is now in the Indian Museum in Kolkata, but the reliquary has been lost.
* The Dhamek Stupa; it is an impressive structure, high and in diameter.
* The Chaukhandi Stupa commemorates the spot where the Buddha met his first disciples, dating back to the fifth century or earlier and later enhanced by the addition of an octagonal tower of Islamic origin. In recent years it is undergoing restoration.
* ''Digambar Jain Mandir'': while the current structure is from the 19th century, it occupies an ancient spot.
* The modern Mulagandhakuti Vihara is a temple constructed in the 1930s by the Mahabodhi Society, with beautiful wall paintings with a replica of the famous Sarnath Buddha in dharmachakra pravartana mudra. Behind it is the Deer Park (where deer are still to be seen).
* The Sarnath Archeological Museum houses the famous Ashokan lion capital, which miraculously survived its 45-foot drop to the ground (from the top of the Ashokan Pillar), and became the National Emblem of India and national symbol on the Indian flag. The museum also houses a famous and refined sculpture of the Buddha in Dharmachakra-posture.
* There is also a Bodhi tree planted by Anagarika Dharmapala which has grown from a cutting of the Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya.
For Buddhists, Sarnath (or Isipatana) is one of four pilgrimage sites designated by Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya, and Lumbini.

Modern-day pilgrimage

Sarnath has been developed as a place of pilgrimage, both for Buddhists from India and abroad. A number of countries in which Buddhism is a major (or the dominant) religion, such as Thailand, Japan, Tibet, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar, have established temples and monasteries in Sarnath in the style that is typical for the respective country. Thus, pilgrims and visitors have the opportunity to experience an overview of Buddhist architecture from various cultures. There is a 24-m-tall (80-foot) statue of Buddha constructed over 14 years (1997-2011) by joint Indo-Thai efforts. It is said to be inspired by the Buddhas of Bamiyan.

In English literature

The plate, based on a picture by Samuel Prout, of which Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem ''Sarnat a Boodh Monument'' is an illustration, shows its then run-down condition, and her words, comparing the religions of the world, pick up on the apparent weakness of Buddhism in the country of its origin at that time (1832).

Sarnath is one of the locations of Rudyard Kipling's 1901 novel ''Kim''. Teshoo Lama stays at the Temple of the Tirthankhars in Sarnath when not on his pilgrimages. Kim meets him there after he leaves Saint Xavier's school.

H.P. Lovecraft in his story titled The Nameless City, described the ruins of an ancient civilization so old that other now collapsed civilizations where not yet built when it saw its last day. Amongst the list of cities was Sarnath, which Lovecraft described as "Sarnath The Doomed".

Gallery

File:Dharmarajika Stupa.JPG, Dharmarajika Stupa from the pre-Ashokan Era
File:Brahmi pillar inscription in Sarnath.jpg, Ashoka's Brahmi inscription on the main pillar
File:1 Sarnath Temple Buddhism Le Mulagandhakuti Vihāra Sârnâth Varanasi India 2013.jpg, Buddha image at Sarnath, a replica of the excavated Dharmachakra Pravartana Buddha at Sarnath
File:India-5130 - Flickr - archer10 (Dennis).jpg, Mulagandhakuti fresco by Kosetsu Nosu
File:Interior of the Jain Temple dedicated to Shreyansanath, the eleventh Jain Tirthankar, Sarnath.jpg, Interior of Sri Digamber Jain Shreyansnath Mandir
File:Sarnath tibetan temple 1.jpg, Temple of the Tibetan community in Sarnath
File:A Buddhist temple at Sarnath.jpg, Mulagandhakuti Vihara, Mahabodhi Society Buddhist temple at Sarnath
File:Mauryan head from Sarnath.jpg, Head of West Asian foreigner, Sarnath.Page 122: About the Masarh lion: "This particular example of a foreign model gets added support from the male heads of foreigners from Patna city and Sarnath since they also prove beyond doubt that a section of the elite in the Gangetic Basin was of foreign origin. However, as noted earlier, this is an example of the late Mauryan period since this is not the type adopted in any Ashoka pillar. We are, therefore, visualizing a historical situation in India in which the West Asian influence on Indian art was felt more in the late Mauryan than in the early Mauryan period. The term West Asia in this context stands for Iran and Afghanistan, where the Sakas and Pahlavas had their base camps for eastward movement. The prelude to future inroads of the Indo-Bactrians in India had after all started in the second century B.C."... in .
File:Sarnath Mauryan capital.jpg, Sarnath Mauryan capital.
File:Sarnath capital with elephant.jpg, Sarnath capital with an elephant.
File:Sarnath - Plan of Excavations.jpg, Sarnath - Plan of Excavations and constructions.
File:Thai Temple Sarnath Varanasi.jpg, View of Lord Buddha at Thai Temple Sarnath Varanasi.
File:Sarnath Buddha statue inside a votive stupa.jpg, Buddha statue inside a votive stupa, Sarnath

See also

*Adi Badri (Haryana)
* Kanaganahalli and Sannati in North Karnataka

Notes

References

* Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni: ''Guide to the Buddhist Ruins of Sarnath with a Plan of Excavations and Five Photographic Plates''. Archaeological Survey of India, Delhi 1922
** Reprint: Antiquarian Book House, Delhi/Varanasi, 1982-1983
* Satyarth Nayak: ''The Emperor's Riddles'' 2014

External links

*

Sarnath India Art Architecture Archcelogy History Culture Study ProjectSarnath Temple

{{Archaeological sites in India

Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India
Varanasi district
Gautama Buddha
Early Buddhism
Hindu pilgrimage sites in India
Hindu holy cities
Former populated places in India
Census towns in Varanasi district
Buddhist sites in Uttar Pradesh
2nd-century BC Jain temples
Jain temples in Uttar Pradesh