Contents
- Background and Significance of Sarnath
- Dhamekh Stupa
- Archaeological Museum of Sarnath
- Narration of my trip to Sarnath
Background and Significance of Sarnath
The deer park at Sarnath is, supposedly, where Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. The name of the Sutta translates to “Turning of the Dhamma wheel” which signifies the start of the spread of the teachings of the Buddha (The teachings of the Buddha is called the Dhamma.)
The deer park at Sarnath is also, supposedly, where Gautama Buddha gave his second sermon as well. The second sermon is the Anatta-lakkhana Sutta, which means “The sermon of non-self”.
And because it is a deer park where Gautama Buddha gave his first and second sermons, images of Buddha are occasionally accompanied by deer.
The Dhamekh Stupa at Sarnath is to commemorate the place where Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon.
Since Sarnath is one of the 4 main Buddhist sites, where Buddhists are encouraged to visit, many temples and monasteries are set up around the Dhamekh Stupa area. You may visit these other temples and monasteries when you are in the area.
Dhamekh Stupa
I visited Dhamekh Stupa on 3rd November 2024 at about 9am.
Further behind, a man and a boy was sitting at the back fence on the grounds of the Dhamekh Stupa, who I think aren’t really tourist visiting the site, based on their behaviour. They were looking at people and just sitting there at the back fence, instead of viewing the stupa. I could see them looking in my direction.
I had intended to do some meditation but decided not to proceed, just in case, they are thieves and will take advantage of my meditation session. So, I packed up and walked away to see the rest of the place.
Archaeological Museum of Sarnath
Usually I don’t bother much with museums unless there is something really special to see, but since the entrance fee to this museum is only 5Rupees, or about S$0.08, why not visit the museum.
Your bags and mobile phones must be stowed in a locker before you enter the museum. Which means no photos allowed in the museum.
Narration of my trip to Sarnath
Arrived at my Sarnath accommodation, Mayur Paying Guest House, at about 3:20pm on 2nd November 2024. It is 680Rupees for a night, no air conditioning, only a very powerful fan.
After settling in, I headed out. I plan to visit the main sites, the Dhamekh Stupa and the Archaeological Museum of Sarnath the next day. So, this first day was just to walk around, gather information about the sites and also to ask about a light show that the host of my guest house told me about.
Firstly, walking around, I was surprised that weren’t a lot of beggars around in Sarnath, because I remember that there were lots of beggars in Bodhgaya, the place where Gautama Buddha gained enlightenment.
Then after the whole visit, I realise it might be because the beggars were curbed here in Sarnath. So, the beggars have to find other means to beg, like asking for money under fences discreetly. (See the above photo when I visited the Dhamekh Stupa, where a small metal bowl and a small hand reached out from under some photos.)
I decided to walk around first before deciding to watch this light show. I am keen to watch the light show, but was a bit concerned that I would need to walk back to my hotel in the dark.
I ordered by pointing to a picture. Since the menu was in Hindi and google translate didn’t give a good idea of the food since I don’t recognise the names of the food.
The burger AND the small drink costs me 35 Rupees or about S$0.52. Wow!! I was expecting them to overcharge me since I don’t know Hindi, and wouldn’t really know if they overcharged me. I was very pleasantly surprised by this. Comparing this to some places I visited, where the locals would openly overcharge me.
After the meal, I walked back to the area around the Dhamekh Stupa.
The next morning on 3rd Nov 2024, I went to buy my combination ticket of both the grounds of the Dhamekh Stupa and the Archaeological Museum of Sarnath. 300+5 = 305Rupees in total.
I then visited the grounds of the Dhamekh Stupa. (Details in the above section.)
On the grounds of the Dhamekh Stupa, I was talking to a Tibetan monk (from the Gelugpa sect). And after asking for food recommendations, he pointed out a Tibetan restaurant further down the road.
Due to the many Tibetans refugees in India, Tibetan food is generally quite good in India.
Wow, the portion of the chowmien was huge. So, I asked for the remaining noodles to be packeted and I would eat it for dinner.
Along the way back to the Archaeological Museum of Sarnath, a beggar boy carrying a small infant came asking for money. I gently ignored him.
He continued his pursuit. And then he changed and asked for a chapati instead, pointing to my packet of chowmien. He persisted, while I ignored. At the gates of the Archaeological Museum of Sarnath, he gently took away the packet of chowmien from my hand. I didn’t pursue it and just let him have it.
At the gate of the Archeological Museum of Sarnath, I realised that I had lost my combination ticket of both the grounds of the Dhamekh stupa and the Archaeological Museum of Sarnath. So, I had to go buy another entrance ticket. The rest of the details are written above under Archaeological Museum of Sarnath.
After a very quick browsing of the Archeological Museum of Sarnath, I headed back to my hotel. Along the way I bought some food stuff.
When buying, I usually don’t know what the food item is. I just point and buy. Same as these food stuff, except for the samosa in the top left side, I didn’t know what the rest are. Do you do the same? Or must you know what the food items are before buying or trying?
I just ate the food from the packet below. So, I can tell you now, that it is a fried bread fritter and a vegetable patty.
After I have eaten the food from the above packet, I would update here.
Update: Inside the packet on the top had a samosa (triangle pyramid shaped) and a rectangular shaped item. The samosa had potato curry filling inside. The rectangular shaped item was sweet. Syrup is between the layers of the folds. A bit too sweet for me, I didn’t finish this sweet treat, even though it was quite tasty.
At about 6pm, I decided to only take 100rupees out and have a chai again, and see what else to buy. 100rupees is about S$1.50.
The paste has a sweet milky taste to it. I really hope nothing goes wrong tomorrow. The paste was just sitting in a covered pan.
That’s how far a 100rupees got me.
Sarnath is a small community revolving around the Dhamekh Stupa. I enjoyed my short stay here. My only gripe is that because it is a small community, food options and shops are limited. Let’s see how it goes when I stay the next night in Varanasi, night of 4th November 2024, along Hinduism’s scared Ganges river. Tonight, night of 3rd November 2024, I would be chilling the rest of the night in Sarnath.
Will travel 