Sarnath
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Sarnath is a town northeast of Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, India. It was here that the Buddha gave his first sermon after attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya. The Lion Capital of Ashoka, raised on a
View of Sarnath, looking from the ancient Mulagandha Kuty Vihara towards the Dhamek Stupa
Buddhist monk in Sarnath
Sarnath Jain Tirth
View of Sarnath during archaeological excavations, 1907. Camera angle from the ruins of the ancient Mulagandha Kuty Vihara towards the Dhamek Stupa; the Sri Digamber Jain temple can be seen on the right side of the photograph.
Lion Capital of Ashoka
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The Lion Capital of Ashoka is the capital, or head, of a column erected by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in Sarnath, India, c. 250 BCE. Its crowning features are four life-sized lions set back to back on
Sarnath
…town northeast of Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, India. It was here that the Buddha gave his first sermon after attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya. The Lion Capital of Ashoka, raised on a column in Sarnath in 250 BCE by the first Buddhist emperor Ashoka, commemorates this event. It is also the State Emblem of India. Sarnath…
Four Asiatic lions stand back to back on a circular abacus. The Buddhist wheel of the moral law appears in relief below each lion. Between the chakras appear four animals in profile—horse, bull, elephant, and lion. The architectural bell below the abacus is a stylized upside-down lotus.
The Dhamek Stupa in Sarnath, a watercolour by Abdullah, Shaikh, January 1814 (sketch); 1819 (colour)
Capital in Sahni's Catalogue, 1914