After being entranced by Varanasi on the river, our next day we spent touring the city and nearby Sarnath, the birthplace of Buddhism.
Baranas Hindu University
Varanasi has just as many variations on its name as there are Hindu gods, but they are all pretty similar sounding including the one in the local university’s moniker. The university has a lovely sprawling campus with a temple in its center. That was our first stop and our first Hindu temple of the trip.
The main tower of this building stands more than 250 feet tall and is truly a landmark. With a nice little garden around it and lovely craftsmanship on the idols and building it was a good first temple to experience.
After removing our shoes, as is customary in all Indian religious spaces, our guide explained a bit more about his religion adding to what we learned the night before on the river. This helped us understand what was going on at the temple and the symbolism we would encounter throughout our trip.
Monkey Temple
Before heading to Sarnath, we visited a second Hindu temple in Varanasi, that of the monkey god. Aaron loves monkeys and gets giddy every time he sees one, so he was a bit disappointed when there where hundreds of primitive primates crawling over the temple. There were many, but not as many as he saw in Indonesia at similar monkey temples. In addition to the monkeys we also saw a wild mongoose. No pictures allowed here.
Mother India Temple
Not really a temple because it isn’t a religious site, the Mother India Temple is merely a significant place to visit. I don’t really know why, but it is on the itinerary for anyone visiting Varanasi, and Ghandi visited it. Essentially, it is a building with a topographical map of India on the floor made from ceramic tiles.
It only takes a few minutes to visit, and you might see our friend, the snake charmer, in the parking area. I didn’t really want to pay to see the snakes or watch a monkey dance since I don’t approve of how they treat the animals (most cobras are defanged and will die from that if used like this). But, Aaron was caught up in the culture of it all, so we stopped for some pics.
Sarnath
As a young man Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince, decided to learn of the world before he would have to be any kind of a leader. His journey led him to see suffering and gave him a desire to lead people in a more enlightening way than as a politician. He became a Hindu monk and began studying his believes and faith. While meditating under a fig tree in modern-day Nepal, he became enlightened, realizing the cause of suffering in this life and how to overcome it.
His first sermon was in Deer Park near Varanasi to five of his companions, again under a tree. This gathering set in motion the great wheel of dharma. The rest, they say, is history. The teachings of Buddha are now spread around the world with millions of followers. Living in China where a great many of Buddhists also live, I was excited to learn about and visit the place where it all began.
There are two parts to a visit to Sarnath. The first is to the temple built near the sight of that first sermon. The inside is decorated with murals depicting Buddha’s journey. Outside is a statue recreating that gathering. Since Buddhism has such diverse iterations, it was interesting to see it all come together in one place.
The second part is an archeological park neighboring the temple grounds. It is the site of where Buddha lived and taught. Over centuries temples, monasteries, and monuments were built in the park and then all eventually levelled by Turkish invaders in the 12th century.
Today, visitors can meander through the brick ruins of the park imagining what it may have been like so long ago. It is nominated for World Heritage status and worthy of a visit. Unfortunately, the museum with artifacts is closed on Fridays when we were there.
