Quite close to the Holy city of Varanasi in India, at Sarnath, lies another holy structure: the Dhamekh Stupa. The Dhamekh Stupa, Sarnath is a place of great reverence and is the most visited pilgrimage site for Buddhists in India. This Stupa was built on the site where the Enlightened Lord Buddha, preached his first sermon. However, historians who take Prakrit sources into account say that the stupa marks the living places of the five ascetics who abandoned Siddharta, before he became the Buddha, meaning the Enlightened One. It is the most famous and impressive structure in the whole of Sarnath. It is said to have been built in around 500 CE.
Stupas were built by the Mauryan King Ashoka to provide a shrine for small pieces of calcined bones and other relics of the Buddha and his disciples. The Dhamekh Stupa, Sarnath, is a cylindrical structure built on a pedestal, which has an entrance measuring 43.6 meters and has a 28 meter diameter. The stupa was built out of stones and red bricks. The designs in the stupa include floral and geometric patterns. There is also a broad band of Swastika, right around. The swastika is said to be created in different geometric designs and a delicately carved wreath of lotuses runs below and over it. The main stupa, which contains many half-destroyed monasteries and smaller stupas, is enclosed. According to Xuanzang, who visited the place in approx. 640 CE, this stupa was home to over 1,500 Buddhist priests.
The Dhamekh Stupa, Sarnath is a definite place to see if one wishes to know the early beginnings of the Buddhist traditions.
Historical Monuments in Agra
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