Trip to Varanasi aka Banaras aka Kashi: Chapter 2: Part 7: Buddha face, Seated Buddha, and Chaukhandi Stupa, Sarnath Uttar Pradesh AdmirableIndia.com

Trip to Varanasi aka Banaras aka Kashi: Chapter 2: Part 7: Buddha face, Seated Buddha, and Chaukhandi Stupa, Sarnath

6th January 2010, 12:50 pm

On the way we found a huge Buddha face:

Just nearby there was a temple having seated Buddha:

Then, we went to see the Chaukhandi Stupa. The Chaukhandi Stupa commemorates the spot where the Buddha met his first disciples, dating back to the fifth century or earlier and later enhanced by the addition of an octagonal tower of Islamic origin. In recent years it is undergoing restoration. The Chaukhandi Stupa is thought originally to have been built as a terraced temple during the Gupta period between the 4th to 6th Century to mark the site where Lord Buddha and his first disciples met traveling from Bodh Gaya to Sarnath. Later Govardhan, the son of a Raja, modified the stupa to its present shape by building the octagonal tower to commemorate the visit of Humayun, the powerful Mughal ruler. Today the stupa is a high earthen mound covered with a brickwork edifice topped by an octagonal tower. It is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. Photography inside the stupa is prohibited.