Come On Pilgrim

The Tibetan temple at Sarnath

A break in my itinerary this morning gave me the chance to make the short journey to Sarnath, which as I've mentioned before is one of Buddhism's four pilgrimage sites, and is dotted with temples built by various Buddhist countries and communities. It's considered a pilgrimage site as it was here that Buddha first taught his outlandish new theories on peace, love and understanding and in doing so made this unassuming deer park the location where Buddhists believe, as one inscription put it, "the doors of enlightenment were opened". Which makes it sound a bit like Stargate.

Buddha's head will eventually be attached to...Buddha's body

It’s really not much like Stargate, but there are some pretty big monuments on display. The above Buddha is obviously still under construction, but when it’s finished I’m told it will be the largest vitarka mudrā Buddha statue in the world, vitarka mudrā being the specific hand gesture iconography which depicts teaching. The nearby Sarnath museum has a plethora of both Buddhist and Hindu artifacts, dating from thousands of years BC, not to mention the Lion Capital of Asoka, from which India takes its national emblem.

A spotted deer (axis axis) poses helpfully

The deer park itself is still intact and remains an idyllic, peaceful setting even if the site where Buddha is supposed to have actually taught is marked by some rather gaudy statues of him and his five students. There is also a small zoo, which contains the aforementioned deer, a crocodile, some rabbits and an openly racist pricing policy which may or may not date back to the time of Buddha himself.