Sarnath

 

Sarnath is one of the four most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites.  According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, the Buddha himself told his disciples to visit four places—Lumbini, Bodhgaya, Sarnath and Kusinagar—which were associated with his birth, enlightenment, first sermon and nirvana (nirvana), respectively.

 For three centuries after Buddha, the history of this place was covered with a veil of anonymity.  Excavations at the site revealed that it was continuously occupied from the 3rd century BC.  Till twelfth century AD

  The great Maurya emperor Ashoka (273-32 BC) built many monuments at this place.  The Dharmarajika Stupa was built to enshrine the physical remains of the Guru.

  Sarnath went into oblivion in the thirteenth century and was uncovered in 1798 when Mr. Duncan, then Commissioner of Nennares, described a coffin of green marble inside a stone box fitted by the artisans of Jagat Singh, the Dewan of Raja Chet Singh.  .  This discovery of Banaras when the Dharmarajika Stupa was demolished to obtain construction material in 1794 had generated widespread interest about Sarnath.

  Later excavations at this site were carried out by Sir Alexander Cunningham (1835-36).  Major Kitto (1851-52), Mr. C.Horn (1865), Mr. F.O.  Oertal (1904-05), Sir John Marshall (1907), Mr. H. Hargreaves (1914-15) and Mr. Daya Ram Sawhney (1927-32).