My trip to Sarnath

Sarnath is the place where Lord Buddha gave his first teachings of Dharma. I had a long desire to visit Sarnath and this year my dream came true. Sarnath is at a distance of about 10 kms from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The main places I visited were the Archaeological Museum and the excavated area. I also saw the Lion Capital, the top of the Ashoka Pillar preserved in the museum. The excavated area is very huge possessing the evidence of large number of Buddhist monasteries and Stupas. [caption id="attachment_1011" align="alignnone" width="300"] Sarnath Temple[/caption] I saw many Buddhist monuments and ancient large buildings in Sarnath. Some of them are the Dhamekha stupa, the Chaukhandi stupa and monasteries and temples of different Buddhist schools of Japan, China, Thailand, and others. There is a park around the temple maintained by the Indian Buddhist society. I got a great chance to see the tooth relic of the Buddha in the Mahabodhi Temple. Every year a number of pilgrims from all parts of the world visit this divine place.