Visit to Sarnath - First Teaching Place of Lord Buddha in Northern India

There are many followers of Lord Buddha in India as well as all throughout the world. As Lord Buddha's work place was India, There are many places of pilgrimage of Buddha religion in India. As Lord Buddha had concentrated his worship area in Northern part of India, Northern India is full of such places of pilgrimage. Sarnath is one such place that is situated at around 30 miles away from Banaras. That is why it becomes very convenient for the tourists to visit Sarnath while visiting Banaras.

There are regular buses plying at every half an hour from Banaras central bus depot for Sarnath. The one way charges for this bus service are Rs.20 ($.50). It is said that after Lord Buddha got his knowledge about god and the religion at Gaya under the holy tree of Baudhgaya, he delivered his first speech of teachings here at Sarnath. There were only five followers present during that first speech of Lord Buddha at Sarnath. King Ashoka who became a strong follower of Lord Buddha after seeing the tragic after effects of Kalinga war, he constructed a large circular stoop from stone at Sarnath in fond memory of Lord Buddha's first teachings. This stoop is 155 feet tall and is circular in shape having diameter of 36 inches. The stoop was constructed first with stone and later on bricks construction was made. There are many small stoops constructed around this main stoop. There are many vihars also constructed by King Ashoka for the followers of Lord Buddha to reside.

Out of all these vihars, the last built vihar known as Mulganj Vihar is really worth seeing. There is a full size statue of Lord Buddha, in sitting posture concentrated in Dhyana in this vihar. The entire life story starting from the birth of Lord Buddha up to the Nirvana is engraved on all the walls of this vihar. The colors and the engraving art of these pictures are really impressive. Many foreigners visit Sarnath to specifically see and study these paintings describing the entire life of Lord Buddha. There is an archeological museum just at the side of this famous temple. This museum contains lot of vital samples connected with Lord Buddha. Out of this, the shoes and clothes worn by Lord Buddha while leaving the house are of prime importance. The hand written books by Lord Buddha also are stored here. These books have been written on the leaves of the tree and not on regular papers. There is an entrance fee of Rs.5 (15 cents) for this museum. It can take around couple of hours to view this museum in details. The museum remains open on all seven days of the week from 10 am to 5 pm. Though, it remains closed on all the national holidays of Indian government. There are many other temples of Lord Shiva, Lord Krishna, and Lord Hanuman at Sarnath. One can hire horse cart or auto rickshaw to visit all these temples. It may take around 4 to 6 hours in all to completely see all the site seeing places at Sarnath. It will be very convenient to visit Sarnath from Banaras taking it as a one day long outing. You can start at around 8 am in the morning from Banaras and can reach back to Banaras at around 5 pm on the same day. Make sure to carry your packed lunch with you from Banaras as there are no good restaurants at Sarnath for taking lunch. If you can afford to spend about one hour for the meditation and Dhyana in this vihar at Sarnath, it would be the best. That surely would give you lot of energy, both in physical and spiritual ways. Sitting in front of Lord Buddha in the temple really charges you with faith in the religion and human beings.

Visiting such holy places of pilgrimage not only satisfies your urge for the pilgrimage but also can bring a life time change in yourself and you may feel like serving the human race in the same way as Lord Buddha did for his entire life.