Saarnath

Saarnath is the place of Buddha's first sermon after he attained enlightenment.

It is one of the four holy Buddhist sites of piligrimage, said to have been sanctioned by the Buddha himself. (which is so hard to believe when Buddha's teachings had neither idols nor god)

The tree, representing the place of the first sermon. This tree is from a sapling of the tree in BodhGaya under which he attained enlightenment.

Saarnath is also the place which had the original Ashoka Pillar, of the four lions, which is adopted as the national emblem of India. The lions are said to represent the four fold truths of Buddhism. All that's left at the original spot is the bottom part of the pillar.

                     

The Dhamek Stupa, is one of the most prominent of the Buddhist stupas, was constructed by Ashoka in 300 BC to house the relics of Buddhas teachings, and a tablet with inscriptions of the original teachings was discovered by boring a hole through the Stupa in 1905

      

Matka lassi, was the curtains downing of a 'once in a life time' trip

Janardhan uncle and Kamlesh aunty, huge huge thanks over again....... one of my most memorable trips ever.