Sarnath Dhamek Stupa
सारनाथ धमेख स्तूप"Where Buddha first set the Wheel of Dharma in motion."
Educational & Historical Overview
Sarnath's Dhamek Stupa stands about 10 km northeast of Varanasi at one of Buddhism's most important pilgrimage sites. This is the Deer Park where Gautama Buddha, after attaining enlightenment, delivered his first sermon to five disciples and set the Wheel of Dharma in motion. The present Dhamek Stupa rises 43.6 metres above the archaeological ruins, with carved stone panels on its lower section and layers of Buddhist history surrounding it. Sarnath holds another remarkable connection to modern India: the famous Lion Capital of Ashoka, now the basis of India's National Emblem, was discovered here and is preserved in the nearby Archaeological Museum. For a traveller, the experience is less about seeing one monument and more about standing in a place where a teaching that shaped millions of lives first began to spread.