Sārnāth

Located in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, 10 kilometers north of Varanasi, Sārnāth is the place where Buddha gave his first sermon and is a major pilgrimage site for Buddhists around the world.

The name Sārnāth comes from Saraṇganātha, meaning “Lord of the Deer.” An ancient Buddhist story, Nigrodhamiga Jātaka (“Tale About Banyan Deer”), describes how once in a previous life Buddha was a deer king who offered his life to the local king to save a pregnant doe from slaughter. Inspired by this act of compassion, the king created a deer sanctuary called Mṛgadāva (“deer forest”). In Buddhist texts, this area is also called Ṛṣipatana (“raining sages”) since it was a gathering place of 500 sages (ṛṣi), who all attained nirvana, rose into the air, and let their relics rain on earth.

Following his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, Buddha is said to have traveled to Ṛṣipatana to teach five mendicants who accompanied him in austerities. In his first discourse, the Dharmachakrapravartana Sutra, or “Turning the Wheel of Dharma,” Buddha explained the nature of suffering through the teachings on the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths define suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the Noble Eightfold Path that leads to liberation from suffering. One by one, his companions became transformed through the realization of these teachings and formed the first community of Buddhist practitioners called sangha. Sārnāth became the place where Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, the three essential elements of Buddhism, or Three Jewels, came together for the first time.

The ancient town of Sārnāth grew around the place of Buddha's first teachings with numerous stupas, temples, and monasteries built by Buddhist patrons throughout the centuries. In the third century BCE, Emperor Asoka built the Dharmarājika stupa, of which only the foundation remains. He also erected a pillar with the lion capital, which has become the state emblem of modern India. The Dhamekh stupa, built possibly in the third century CE with exquisite stone ornaments, still stands on the spot where Buddha gave his first discourse. The Chaukhaṇḍ;ī stupa, dating back to the fifth century, commemorates the spot where the Buddha met his former companions. During the Gupta [Page 1128]period (the fourth to sixth centuries), Sārnāth became the center of Indian art, producing refined and elegant sculptures, some of which are preserved at the local archaeological museum. Sārnāth was destroyed by Turkish invaders at the beginning of the 11th century, partially rebuilt, and finally demolished at the end of the 12th century.

Contemporary Sārnāth has been revived as one of the main sites of Buddhist pilgrimage. A large number of temples and monasteries have been erected reflecting the styles of diverse Buddhist cultures. Foremost among these is the Mūlagandhakuṭī Vihāra, built in 1931 by Anagarika Dharmapāla and the Mahābodhi Society, where every evening, the Dharmachakrapravartana Sutra is chanted by monks and pilgrims. The town is also home to the Central University for Higher Tibetan Studies, a major research institute dedicated to educating young Tibetans in exile from their country.