March Madness ended with a long weekend visiting the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In Utter Pradesh I visited Varanasi and in Bihar, Bodh Gaya.
I arrived at the airport to be greeted by my trusted travel partner and guide Zeeshan, along with our driver over the next four days: Babloo. We immediately went to our first location, called Sarnath. This is one of the four major pilgrimage sites of Buddhism and where Buddha gave his first sermon after Enlightenment. King Ashoka (268-232 BC), a great emperor who after a brutal victory made it his mission in life (after conquering lands as far north as Afghanistan and east to Bangladesh) to spread the value of righteous conduct and later spread the word of Buddhism, gave much money to this area and as a result many monasteries, stupas and monuments sprouted. Interesting, the wheel on the Indian flag is not in honor of Ghandi’s spinning wheel but rather to Ashoka’s Charkra (more on that later).
While there are many debates about the positives and negatives of British rule over India, one indisputable fact is that as a result of Alexander Cunningham’s interest in the history and archaeology of India, many historical sites were excavated. While Sarnath was first explored by Jonathan Duncan in 1794 and then by Colin Mackenzie in 1815, this site’s main excavation was done by Cunningham between 1834-36 when he was the founding head of the Archaeological Survey of India. The location of Sarnath was made possible in part by the writing of Xuanzang, a Chinese Buddhist monk and traveler, a nice personal connection for me. In the 20th century excavations uncovered a lot of the artifacts found in the museum on the grounds of Sarnath.
The compound itself presents as a green lawn dotted with remnants of brick structures, from the base of giant stupas to Buddhist monasteries.
Of note are four locations. The first is the Mulagandha Kuti where the remains of a temple erected on the spot where Buddha is believed to have meditated. As there are many different cultures where Buddhism is practiced, walking here is a mini-cultural excursion with varied remnants of tributes left by modern day and ancient visitors. For example, gold leaf is left by Thai worshipers, while wrapped ribbons tend to be from Sri Lanka. These practices are as ancient as the site, with these little ‘votive’ stupas left by less affluent visitors centuries ago.
Second is the remains of a stupa built by Ashoka where Buddha’s ashes were stored and it was named Dharmarajika. This was torn down when the Moghuls ruled India and Buddha’s ashes were thrown into the river.
Third is the Ashokan pillar containing writing in the language of the day, Pali, in which Buddha gave his sermon. Hindu evolved from this language. There were several pillars and one is the earliest pillars contain a message from Ashoka urging monks and nuns not to create a schism at Sarnath. The pillars also contain messages from Ashoka defining him as a protector of his people, as well the teachings of Dhamma Buddhism with virtues such as truthfulness, and even what animals can and cannot be killed and when. The top of this pillar is very important and in the museum (more on that later). The structure was originally 15 meters high!
The main structure that rises from a base and seen from all areas of the compound is the Dhamekh Stupa. This stupa, shaped in honor of Buddha’s begging bowl (inverted) is 2000 years old and is built on the spot where Buddha gave his sermon. You can see some of the photos before restoration and the intricate carvings that remain. Being such a holy site for Buddhists, it was special to see this group of pilgrims chanting while going clockwise around the stupa several times. I am guessing they are from China.
I enjoyed looking at various carvings of Buddha in main positions. The one when his hand is touching the ground symbolizes his enlightenment. There is a myth around this that when he reached enlightenment there was no one around to tell, so he told the earth. Then there is the yoga pose. The third one, with fingers making a circle in a line represents his first sermon and teaching.
The Panchytan Temple was like a doll house!
As I adore stone carvings, I got a thrill looking at all these carvings created so long ago. As expected, many of the carvings are of lotus leaves or flowers and leaves from the Buddha tree (it was a fig tree). Walking on the original steps up to the Dhamekh Stupa and seeing their simple carvings gave me an even more poignant thrill.
The Archaeological Museum of Sarnath houses many artifacts found on the grounds and is a modern, well-laid out museum. The AC was a blessed relief and made looking at all the stonework even better.
Upon entering the museum, you are immediately struck by the four-lion sculpture that was originally on top of the Ashoka pillar. This was built by the emperor between 272-232 AD and is the national crest of India. It is on all the money and is an excellent example of Mauryan art (Ashoka’s time). The lions look out in all four directions to symbolize the influence of Buddha as the ‘king of all’. The pillar has four great animals (elephant, lion, horse and bull) with wheels between to suggest the ever-active potency of law. In essence, this represents how Ashoka’s empire was following Buddhist principles. It is made of sandstone and no one to this day knows how they made the sandstone shine like it does. It is beautiful: gentle and powerful at the same time.
Needless to say I was in seventh-heaven looking at all the stonework!
This inscription was discovered in 1908 and has 26 verses in Sanskrit in the character of Nagri script (see the chart!). The first section focuses on the Buddhist queen Govindachandra (1114-1154 AD) with her genealogy and verses in praise of her. The tablet ends with the notation that the poet Shrikunda wrote the verse and it was carved by Vamana. Nice to see the carver get mentioned!
In 1990 a clay pot was uncovered containing precious items, found near the temple built by Myanmar. The gold was in many forms from jewelry to gold foil and the pot contained as other stones and metals as well. It is assumed to be from 2nd to 1st century BC and since it was located close to the Ashokan pillar was either an offering or used for rituals.
The panel below honors the four critical moments in Buddha’s life: on the bottom, his birth. Above that is when he attains enlightenment with his wife and two daughters depicted standing at his side. The third is at Sarnath, with two celestial figures above him. The top is his death with mourning figures around him.
After we checked into our hotel, we headed to what we thought was a real silk factory but it turned out to be one of those tourist trap stores. However, I enjoyed looking at and learning about the traditional vs ‘modern’ ways to loom. The modern way has those ‘computer like cards’ that determine what color goes where and the weaver just shoots the needle, The other way is much more difficult and therefore more expensive of course! The old way required two men, one threading and one holding the strings. I ended up buying two exquisite fine silk scarves for $20 each; I felt guilty and obliged…sigh. Now who to gift them to??
Then we headed to the banks of the Ganges River in Varanasi, a most holy site, and an auspicious place to be cremated and to dip in the water to wash away your sins. Dying here is also supposed to help your reincarnation. I was very touched to see an ancient man being walked to the water by his sons.
We took a bike ride to the riverbank, a popular form of taxis here. Cars are not allowed as one gets closer to the riverbank, but being India there is still traffic!
People watching was overwhelming, with a wide variety of people and reasons for being in Varanasi – from tourism to pilgrims, from wealthy to professional beggars posing as holy monks. Very India!
We arrived early so we took a rowboat ride to see the views, but they dwarfed compared to the morning ride we took with the guide the next day (that was scheduled) so I will only include a few photos here.
I asked to be dropped off at the bank further up river as that would be a better to disembark instead of walking over 4 or 5 boats to get shore. This decision resulted in two fun moments.
The first is seeing an excellent example of medieval Rajasthani architecture, which is also one of the observatories in India (no longer functioning).
The second was seeing this boat being built. The boat maker was hammering the last piece (you can see the clips holding it together. I missed the photo because I received a phone call…but what a moment! A dying art I imagine as these boats are very expensive to make, but they are made by hand!
While waiting, I was sitting and it was fun that for ONCE I was not the object of vendors….they were going for the Indians!
The big ‘thing’ here is a night service called the Ganga Aarti Ceremony which honors the river. EVERYONE watches it and there must have been 30,000 people when we were there. It was a sea of people singing and chanting, very moving. We sat on a boat and watched from the shore. Should I ever return, I will want to watch from a balcony, as the view from above must be amazing. For the show/service we were meeting my friend and colleague Disha who was visiting with her son and husband. It was totally freaky to meet someone from work here! We had a nice catch up and enjoyed the show. Below are a few highlights.
We left a little early to avoid the mad rush, stopped at a liquor store for me to buy vodka (of the rot-gut variety – big headache the next day) and then a delicious Indian dinner. Early to bed as we were getting up before sunrise to watch the sunrise ceremony.
