📷 Wandering khan · Pexels

Where in the world

India

Sarnath

Ancient India (Gupta) · India

Field notes

civilizations: Ancient India (Gupta)
types: City
occupied: 300 BCE — 1,200 CE
country: India

The site

Sarnath is a town northeast of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, India, revered as the place where the Buddha gave his first sermon after attaining enlightenment. Here he set in motion the First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma before his original five disciples. The Lion Capital of Ashoka, raised on a column here around 250 BCE, commemorates the event and now serves as the State Emblem of India, making Sarnath one of the eight great Buddhist pilgrimage sites.

Nearby sites

Khajuraho Group of Monuments

~535 km

Taj Mahal