Sarnath- Buddhist Temple , Varanasi

I have visited many temples but the one at Sarnath was entirely a different experience as this is the divine place where Lord Buddha gave his first sermon to his disciples after his enlightenment. It is one of the four Pilgrimage destinations for Buddha's sacred institutions , the other 3 being Lumbini,    ( city of Birth), Bodh Gaya , where he attained enlightenment and Kushinagar, where He attained samadhi. Buddha after attaining enlightenment he visited Saranath to find  five  companions and taught them and enlightened them here which is referred to as the Wheel of Law known in Pali as Dhamma Chalkka Pavattana Sutta. 

Buddhas teachings centered around meaning of life and right way to live. All of the ancient structures in Sarnath were destroyed by Turks and later it was excavated and restored. The most impressive the imposing Dhamek Stupa that stands at a height of 128 feet and dates back to 200 Bc where Buddha has believed to have given his first sermon. I could not visit all the spots at Sarnath but it was indeed a great experience.

 Check pictures of whatever I could capture.

                                     

My Pilgrimage, North India.

I set on a pilgrimage cum sight seeing tour of some of the North Indian temples and covered Amritsar the Golden temple,  Mathura and  Brindavan, the birth place of Lord Krishna and where he spent his childhood;  Sarnath, the place where Gautham Buddha gave his first sermon , Varanasi, one of the char dhaams where every Hindu devotee likes to visit at least once in his/her life time, Then  to Allahabad, we followed the  Ganges and Yamuna and  met them at the confluence of Triveni Sangam where river Saraswati flows as Gupt Saraswati. Shall be giving details when I post about these places separately. I Could visit colurful Rajasthan -Jaipur and Jodhpur. The Pink city- Jaipur and Jodhpur transported us to the era of great Rajput rulers . The visit to various forts was a great revelation of the life and culture in the days of yore. The workmanship in stone was awe inspiring and the love for precious artifacts still displayed in the great palaces threw some light on the kind of life lead by the then rulers. Among all this we also visited Jalian Walah bagh and  could participate in Wagah - Attari border closing ceremony-  the highly charged atmosphere made me realise how much I worship my motherland, really a great experience.

I shall be posting about the temples, I visited in various cities  and here are a few glimpses of what is in store. It was a well spent vacation and every minute spent was really worth, something to savour for the rest of my life.

There still more to see and that is proposed for yet another trip.

I feel so refreshed and rejuvenated.