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{{short description|Stupa at Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India}}
{{short description|Gupta-era stupa at Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox religious building
{{Infobox religious building
| building_name=Dhamek Stupa <br/> <small> धामेक स्तूप {{in lang|hi}}</small>
| building_name         = Dhamek Stupa <br/> <small> धमेख स्तूप {{in lang|hi}}</small>
| image=Dhamek Stupa, Sarnath.jpg
| image                 = Dhamek Stupa, Sarnath.jpg
| image_size=300px
| image_size           = 300px
| caption=
| caption               = Dhamek Stupa is located in [[Sarnath]], [[Varanasi]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]]
| location= {{flagicon|India}} [[Sarnath]], [[Varanasi]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]]
| map_type              = India#India Uttar Pradesh
| map_type =India
| map_size              = 250
| map_relief =yes
| map_relief            = yes
| coordinates = {{coord|25.3808|83.0245|display=inline,title}}
| map_caption          = Location in Uttar Pradesh, India
| religious_affiliation=[[Buddhism]]
| location             = {{flagicon|India}} [[Sarnath]], [[Varanasi]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]]
| rite=
| coordinates           = {{coord|25.3808|83.0245|display=inline,title}}
| province=
| religious_affiliation = [[Buddhism]]
| district=
| architecture_type    = [[Stupa]]
| consecration_year=
| architecture_style    = [[Buddhist architecture|Buddhist]], [[Mauryan | Mauryan art]]
| status=
| year_completed        = 5th-6th century AD<ref name="MSD">{{cite book |last1=Dodson |first1=Michael S. |title=Banaras: Urban Forms and Cultural Histories |date=31 January 2021 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-36564-1 |page=75, note 39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TWwNEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT75 |language=en|quote="However, the Dhamek was conclusively dated as a Gupta period (5th-6th century) monument (...) and was shown not to have been built by the Mauryas Emperor Ashoka"}}</ref>
| leadership=
| length                = {{convert|28|m|ft|abbr=off}}<ref name=timesofindia>{{cite web | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/Sarnath/Sarnath-attractions-that-you-shouldnt-skip/ps56469286.cms | title=Sarnath attractions that you shouldn't skip | website=[[The Times of India]] }}</ref>
| website=
| width                 = {{convert|28|m|ft|abbr=off}}<ref name=timesofindia/>
| architect=
| height_max           = {{convert|43|m|ft|abbr=off}}<ref name=timesofindia/>
| architecture_type= [[Stupa]]
| materials             = white makrana marble
| architecture_style=
| functional_status    = Preserved
| specifications=
| administration        = [[Archaeological Survey of India]]
| facade_direction=  
| groundbreaking=  
| year_completed= 500 CE
| construction_cost=
| capacity=
| length=
| width=  
| width_nave=  
| height_max=
| materials=
}}
}}
'''Dhamek Stupa''' (also spelled ''Dhamekh'' and ''Dhamekha'') is a massive [[stupa]] located at the archaeological site of [[Sarnath]] in the state of [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-monuments/dhamekh-stupa.html|title=Dhamekh Stupa Sarnath, Varanasi India|publisher=iloveindia.com}}</ref> Dhamek Stupa marks the precise location where [[the Buddha]] preached [[Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta|his first discourse]] to his first five disciples ([[Kaundinya]], [[Assaji]], Bhaddiya, Vappa and Mahanama), and where all five eventually became fully liberated.<ref name=vridhamma>{{cite web|title=Historical Places of the Buddha &#124|publisher=Vipassana Research Institute|location=Igatpuri, Maharashtra, India|url=https://www.vridhamma.org/Historical-Places-of-the-Buddha|accessdate=December 13, 2022}}</ref>


'''Dhamek Stupa''' (also spelled ''Dhamekh'' and ''Dhamekha'', traced to Sanskrit version Dharmarajika Stupa, which can be translated as the Stupa of the reign of Dharma) is a massive [[stupa]] located at [[Sarnath]], 13&nbsp;km away from [[Varanasi]] in the state of [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-monuments/dhamekh-stupa.html|title=Dhamekh Stupa Sarnath, Varanasi India|publisher=iloveindia.com}}</ref>
==Etymology==
The name ''Dhamek'' derives from the [[Sanskrit]] word ''dharmeksā'', which means "pondering of the law" in the [[Sanskrit|Sanskrit language]].{{sfn|Oertel|1908|p=60}}


Stupas originated as pre-Buddhist [[tumulus|tumuli]], in which ascetics were buried in a seated position,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.buddhanet.net/stupa.htm |accessdate=2013-01-07|title=Buddhist Art and Architecture: Symbolism of the Stupa / Chorten|date=2006-08-14}}</ref> called [[chaitya]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.upenn.edu/coursepages/hist086/material/sanchi.htm|accessdate=2013-01-07|title=THE BUDDHIST STUPA: ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT|date=2005-01-13}}</ref> After the [[parinirvana]] of the Buddha, his remains were cremated and the ashes divided and buried under eight mounds with two further mounds encasing the urn and the embers. Little is known about these early stupas, particularly since it has not been possible to identify the original ten monuments. However, some later stupas, such as at [[Sarnath]] and [[Sanchi]], seem to be embellishments of earlier mounds.<ref name=Possehl>{{cite book|last1=Possehl|first1=Gregory L|title=The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective|date=2010|publisher=AltaMira|isbn=978-0759101722|page=12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pmAuAsi4ePIC&pg=PA12&dq=Mohenjo-daro+buddhist+stupa&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sEmAVOeYHKTn7gb0m4DQAw&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Mohenjo-daro%20buddhist%20stupa&f=false}}</ref> The Dhamek Stupa was built in 500 CE<ref>''Sir Banister Fletcher's a History of Architecture'', 20th ed. (ed. by [[Dan Cruickshank]]). Architectural Press, 1996. {{ISBN|0-7506-2267-9}}. Page 646.</ref> to replace an earlier structure commissioned by the great [[Mauryan]] king [[Ashoka]] in 249 BCE, along with several other monuments, to commemorate the Buddha's activities in this location. Stupas originated as circular mounds encircled by large stones. King [[Ashoka]] built stupas to enshrine small pieces of calcinated bone and other relics of the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] and his disciples.<ref>{{cite web
==Location==
|url=http://www.indian-heritage.org/aindex.html
Dhamek Stupa is located {{convert|180|m|ft|abbr=off}} to the east of Dharmarajika Stupa at the archaeological site of Sarnath. Sarnath is located {{convert|12|km|mi|abbr=off}} to the northeast of [[Varanasi]], in Uttar Pradesh, India.
|title=Stupas
|publisher=Indian Heritage
|accessdate=2006-11-20
}}</ref> An [[Ashoka pillar]] with an edict engraved on it stands near the site.


The Dhamek Stupa is said to mark the spot  (''Rishipattana'' which can be translated as "where the Rishi arrived") where the Buddha gave the first sermon to his first five disciples, led by [[Kaundinya]], after attaining enlightenment,<ref>{{cite web
==Description==
|url=http://www.buddhistpilgrimage.info/sarnath.htm
Dhamek Stupa is the most massive structure in Sarnath.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.varanasicity.com/sarnath/dhamek-stupa.html|title=Dhamekh Stupa|publisher=Varanasicity.com|accessdate=2006-10-16}}</ref> In its current shape, the stupa is a solid cylinder of bricks and stone reaching a height of 43.6 meters and having a diameter of 28 meters. The basement seems to have survived from Ashoka's structure, while the stone facing displays delicate floral carvings characteristic of the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] era. The wall is covered with exquisitely carved figures of humans and birds, as well as inscriptions in [[Brahmi script]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.culturalindia.net/monuments/dhamekh-stupa.html|title=Dhamekh Stupa|publisher=|accessdate=2006-09-19}}</ref> The stupa was enlarged on six occasions but the upper part is still unfinished.<ref>Bradnock, Robert W. ''Footprint India''. Footprint Travel Guides, 2004. {{ISBN|1-904777-00-7}}. Page 191.</ref> While visiting Sarnath in 640 CE, [[Xuanzang]] recorded that the colony had over 1,500 priests and the main stupa was nearly {{convert|300|ft|m}} high.<ref>Arnett, Robert A. ''India Unveiled''. Atman Press, 2006. {{ISBN|0-9652900-4-2}}.</ref>
|title=Place of the Buddha’s First Sermon
|publisher=Indian architecture
|accessdate=2006-09-19
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060828022730/http://buddhistpilgrimage.info/sarnath.htm
|archive-date=28 August 2006
|url-status=dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.asia.msu.edu/southasia/india/culture/architecture.html
|title=http://www.asia.msu.edu/southasia/india/culture/architecture.html
|accessdate=2007-02-08
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901123953/http://www.asia.msu.edu/southasia/india/culture/architecture.html
|archive-date=1 September 2006
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> "revealing his [[Eightfold Path]] leading to [[nirvana]]".<ref>Quoted from: Pippa de Bruyn, Niloufer Venkatraman, Keith Bain. ''Frommer's India''. {{ISBN|0-471-79434-1}}. Page 340.</ref> This event marked the formation of the [[sangha]]. In several of the ancient sources the site of the first sermon is mentioned to have been at a ″Mriga-dayaa-vanam″ or a sanctuary for animals. ( In Sanskrit mriga is used in the sense of game animals, deer being the most common). The last royal endowment at the site is dated to about 12th c. CE, after which the location of the Mrigadayavanam seems to have been lost even to the devout. The stupa was enlarged on six occasions but the upper part is still unfinished.<ref>Bradnock, Robert W. ''Footprint India''. Footprint Travel Guides, 2004. {{ISBN|1-904777-00-7}}. Page 191.</ref> While visiting Sarnath in 640 CE, [[Xuanzang]] recorded that the colony had over 1,500 priests and the main stupa was nearly {{convert|300|ft|m}} high.<ref>Arnett, Robert A. ''India Unveiled''. Atman Press, 2006. {{ISBN|0-9652900-4-2}}.</ref>


In its current shape, the stupa is a solid cylinder of bricks and stone reaching a height of 43.6 meters and having a diameter of 28 meters. It is the most massive structure in Sarnath.<ref>{{cite web
An [[Pillars of Ashoka|Ashoka pillar]] with an edict engraved on it stands near the site.
|url=http://www.varanasicity.com/sarnath/dhamek-stupa.html
|title=Dhamekh Stupa
|publisher=Varanasicity.com
|accessdate=2006-10-16
}}</ref>
The basement seems to have survived from Ashoka's structure: the stone facing is chiseled and displays delicate floral carvings of [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] origin.
The wall is covered with exquisitely carved figures of humans and birds, as well as inscriptions in the [[Brāhmī script]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.culturalindia.net/monuments/dhamekh-stupa.html
|title=Dhamekh Stupa
|publisher=
|accessdate=2006-09-19
}}</ref>


[[File:Indika. The country and the people of India and Ceylon (1891) (14583657009).jpg|thumb|Stupa in 1891]]
==History==
Dhamek Stupa marks the precise location where [[the Buddha]] preached [[Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta|his first discourse]] to his first five disciples ([[Kaundinya]], [[Assaji]], Bhaddiya, Vappa and Mahanama), and where all five eventually became fully liberated.<ref name=vridhamma/> This event marked the formation of the [[sangha]]. Several of the ancient sources describe the site of this first sermon as a ''Mriga-dayaa-vanam'' or a sanctuary for animals. (In Sanskrit, the word ''mriga'' is used in the sense of game animals, with deer being the most common).


== Gallery ==
After the [[parinirvana]] of the Buddha in 544 BCE, his remains were cremated and the ashes were divided and buried under eight stupas, with two further stupas encasing the urn and the embers. Dhamek Stupa was presumably among these eight stupas, and [[Mauryan]] King [[Ashoka]] may have commissioned its expansion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indian-heritage.org/aindex.html|title=Stupas|publisher=Indian Heritage|accessdate=2006-11-20|archive-date=8 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108045253/http://www.indian-heritage.org/aindex.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> But the current Dhamek Stupa, as visible today, was conlusively dated to the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta period]], in the 5th-6th century CE.<ref name="MSD"/><ref>''[[Sir Banister Fletcher's a History of Architecture]]'', 20th ed. (ed. by [[Dan Cruickshank]]). Architectural Press, 1996. {{ISBN|0-7506-2267-9}}. Page 646.</ref>


A 17th-century [[Jainism|Jain]] manuscript describes a Jain temple in Varanasi as a [[Tirtha (Jainism)|pilgrimage site for Jains]]. The temple is located close to "a famous Bodisattva sanctuary" at a place called ''dharmeksā''.{{sfn|Oertel|1908|p=60}}
In what is the first incontrovertible reference to the ruins at Sarnath, [[Jonathan Duncan (Governor of Bombay)|Jonathan Duncan]] (a charter member of the [[The Asiatic Society|Asiatic Society]] and later [[List of governors of Bombay Presidency|Governor of Bombay]]) described the discovery of a green marble [[reliquary]] encased in a sandstone box in the relic chamber of a brick stupa at that location. The reliquary was discovered in January 1794, during the dismantling of a stupa (referred to by [[Alexander Cunningham]] as stupa "K" or the "Jagat Singh stupa",{{sfn|Oertel|1908|p=65}} later identified as the Dharmarajika Stupa)<ref name=ASI2014>{{cite web|author=Archaeological Survey of India|authorlink=Archaeological Survey of India|title=Dhamek Stupa|work=Our Monuments|publisher=[[Archaeological Survey of India]] - Sarnath Circle|location=Sarnath, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh|year=2014|url=https://www.asisarnathcircle.org/dhamek-stupa.php|accessdate=1 January 2023}}</ref> by employees of [[Zamindar]] Jagat Singh (the [[dewan]] of [[Maharaja Chait Singh]], the [[Narayan dynasty|Raja of Benares]]).{{sfn|Oertel|1908|pp=61-62}} Duncan published his observations in 1799.{{sfn|Duncan|1799|pp=131-133}}{{sfn|Cunningham|1871|pp=118-119}}{{sfn|Asher|2020|p=22}} The reliquary contained a few bones and some pearls, which were subsequently thrown into the [[Ganges|Ganges river]].{{sfn|Sahni|1917|pp=17–20}} The reliquary itself has also disappeared, although the outer sandstone box was replaced in the relic chamber, where it was rediscovered by Cunningham in 1835.{{sfn|Oertel|1908|pp=61-62}} The bricks of the stupa were hauled off and used for the construction of the market in [[Jagatganj]], Varanasi.{{sfn|Sherring|1868|p=26}} Jagat Singh and his crew also removed a large part of the facing of the Dhamek Stupa, and removed several Buddha statues which he retained at his house in Jagatganj.{{sfn|Oertel|1908|pp=62-64}}
==Gallery==
<!--Do NOT move images from this section and place them in other places in the article. Images that do not add information to the article should be added here, and NOT in the article body itself. Please do not clutter the article with your pictures. -->
<!--Do NOT move images from this section and place them in other places in the article. Images that do not add information to the article should be added here, and NOT in the article body itself. Please do not clutter the article with your pictures. -->


<gallery perrow="2" widths="200px" heights="150px">
<gallery perrow="6" widths="200px" heights="150px">
File:Stupas around the Dhamekh Stupa, Sarnath.jpg|[[Dhamekh Stupa]], Saranath
File:Sarnath Dhamek Stupa 1814.jpg|As it appeared in 1814
Image:History of Dhamekh Stupa on Stone.jpg|History of [[Dhamekh Stupa]] on [[Rock (geology)|stone]]
File:Indika. The country and the people of India and Ceylon (1891) (14583657009).jpg|As it appeared in 1891
<!-- Deleted image removed: Image:Asoka Pillar in Sarnath.jpg|Four "[[Indian lion]]" Lion Capital of Ashoka atop an [[Ashoka Pillar]] at [[Sarnath]] which was destroyed during Turk invasions of India missing the larger [[Dharma Chakra]] / [[Ashoka Chakra]] atop the four lions, now preserved at [[Sarnath Museum]] has been adopted as the [[National Emblem of India]] and the smaller Chakra in the base on which the lions are standing has become a part of the [[National Flag of India]]. -->
File:Sarnath excavation site 1907 (2).jpg|As it appeared in 1905. Camera angle from the ruins of the ancient Mulagandha Kuty Vihara towards the Dhamek Stupa; the [[Sarnath Jain Tirth|Sri Digamber Jain temple]] can be seen on the right side of the photograph.
File:Dhamekh Stupa close-up, Sarnath.jpg|Dhamekh Stupa close-up, Sarnath
File:Stupas around the Dhamekh Stupa, Sarnath.jpg|As it appeared in 2008
File:Dhamekh Stupa close up.jpg|[[Dhamekh Stupa]] wall Close Up
File:Dhamekh Stupa close up.jpg|Dhamekh Stupa wall close-up, as it appeared in 2008
File:Sarnath - Plan of Excavations.jpg|Sarnath - Plan of Excavations
File:Dhamek Stupa 4.JPG|As it appeared in 2009
File:Dhamekh Stupa close-up, Sarnath.jpg|As it appeared in 2009 (close-up view)
Image:History of Dhamekh Stupa on Stone.jpg|Plaque at Sarnath historical site, outlining the history of Dhamekh Stupa (2010)
File:Dhamekh Stupa and Jain Temple, Sarnath.jpg|As it appeared in 2019. Camera angle from the ruins of the ancient Mulagandha Kuti Vihar towards the Dhamek Stupa; the [[Sarnath Jain Tirth|Shreyanshnath Jain Temple]] can be seen on the right side of the photograph (the Panchayatan Temple can also be seen in the middle).
</gallery>
</gallery>


==References==
==References==
{{commons category|Dhamekh Stupa}}
{{Reflist|33em}}
{{Reflist|33em}}


[[Category:500]]
==Cited works==
*{{cite book|last=Asher|first=Frederick M.|title=Sarnath: A Critical History of the Place Where Buddhism Began|publisher=Getty Research Institute|location=Los Angeles|year=2020|isbn=978-1606066164|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMHEDwAAQBAJ}}
*{{cite book|last=Cunningham|first=Alexander|author-link=Alexander Cunningham|title=Four reports made during the years 1862-63-64-65|volume=1|chapter=Banaras Sarnath|pages=103–130|publisher=[[Archaeological Survey of India]]|location=Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India|year=1871|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.94077/page/n225/mode/2up}}
*{{cite journal|last=Duncan|first=Johnathan|authorlink=Jonathan Duncan (Governor of Bombay)|title=An Account of the Discovery of Two Urns in the Vicinity of Benares|journal=[[The Asiatic Society#Journal of the Asiatic Society|Transactions of the Society Instituted in Bengal, for enquiring into the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences and Literature, of Asia]]|volume=5|pages=131–3|year=1799|url=https://archive.org/details/asiaticresearche05asia/page/130/mode/2up}}
*{{cite book|last=Oertel|first=Friedrich Oscar|author-link=F. O. Oertel|title=Archaeological Survey of India Annual Report, 1904–1905|chapter=Excavations at Sarnath|publisher=Superintendent Government Printing, India|location=Calcutta|year=1908|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.207530/page/n97/mode/2up}}
*{{cite book|last=Sahni|first=Daya Ram|authorlink=Daya Ram Sahni|title=Guide to the Buddhist ruins of Sarnath|publisher=[[Archaeological Survey of India]]|location=Calcutta|year=1917|url=https://www.indianculture.gov.in/flipbook/83409}}
*{{cite book|last=Sherring|first=Matthew Atmore|authorlink=M. A. Sherring|title=Benares: The Sacred City of the Hindus|publisher=B. R. Publishing Corporation|location=Delhi|year=1868|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499299/page/n61/mode/2up}}
 
{{Sarnath Museum}}
{{Buddhist sites in Uttar Pradesh}}
{{Buddhism topics}}
{{Varanasi}}
{{Archaeological sites in India}}
 
 
[[Category:5th century in India]]
[[Category:Archaeological monuments in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Buddhist relics]]
[[Category:Buddhist temples in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 5th century]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 5th century]]
[[Category:Maurya Empire]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Varanasi]]
[[Category:Gupta Empire]]
[[Category:Sarnath|Dhamek Stupa]]
[[Category:Stupas in India]]
[[Category:Stupas in India]]
[[Category:Buddhist temples in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Varanasi]]
[[Category:Archaeological monuments in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Varanasi district]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Varanasi district]]
[[Category:5th century in India]]
[[Category:Buddhist relics]]
[[Category:Sarnath]]

Latest revision as of 11:37, 24 November 2023


Dhamek Stupa (also spelled Dhamekh and Dhamekha) is a massive stupa located at the archaeological site of Sarnath in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.[3] Dhamek Stupa marks the precise location where the Buddha preached his first discourse to his first five disciples (Kaundinya, Assaji, Bhaddiya, Vappa and Mahanama), and where all five eventually became fully liberated.[4]

Dhamek Stupa
धमेख स्तूप (in Hindi)
Religion
AffiliationBuddhism
StatusPreserved
Location
LocationIndia Sarnath, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
Dhamek Stupa is located in India
Dhamek Stupa
Location in Uttar Pradesh, India
Dhamek Stupa is located in Uttar Pradesh
Dhamek Stupa
Dhamek Stupa (Uttar Pradesh)
AdministrationArchaeological Survey of India
Geographic coordinates25°22′51″N 83°01′28″E / 25.3808°N 83.0245°E / 25.3808; 83.0245Coordinates: 25°22′51″N 83°01′28″E / 25.3808°N 83.0245°E / 25.3808; 83.0245
Architecture
TypeStupa
StyleBuddhist, Mauryan art
Completed5th-6th century AD[1]
Length28 metres (92 feet)[2]
Width28 metres (92 feet)[2]
Height (max)43 metres (141 feet)[2]
Materialswhite makrana marble

EtymologyEdit

The name Dhamek derives from the Sanskrit word dharmeksā, which means "pondering of the law" in the Sanskrit language.[5]

LocationEdit

Dhamek Stupa is located 180 metres (590 feet) to the east of Dharmarajika Stupa at the archaeological site of Sarnath. Sarnath is located 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) to the northeast of Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, India.

DescriptionEdit

Dhamek Stupa is the most massive structure in Sarnath.[6] In its current shape, the stupa is a solid cylinder of bricks and stone reaching a height of 43.6 meters and having a diameter of 28 meters. The basement seems to have survived from Ashoka's structure, while the stone facing displays delicate floral carvings characteristic of the Gupta era. The wall is covered with exquisitely carved figures of humans and birds, as well as inscriptions in Brahmi script.[7] The stupa was enlarged on six occasions but the upper part is still unfinished.[8] While visiting Sarnath in 640 CE, Xuanzang recorded that the colony had over 1,500 priests and the main stupa was nearly 300 feet (91 m) high.[9]

An Ashoka pillar with an edict engraved on it stands near the site.

HistoryEdit

Dhamek Stupa marks the precise location where the Buddha preached his first discourse to his first five disciples (Kaundinya, Assaji, Bhaddiya, Vappa and Mahanama), and where all five eventually became fully liberated.[4] This event marked the formation of the sangha. Several of the ancient sources describe the site of this first sermon as a Mriga-dayaa-vanam or a sanctuary for animals. (In Sanskrit, the word mriga is used in the sense of game animals, with deer being the most common).

After the parinirvana of the Buddha in 544 BCE, his remains were cremated and the ashes were divided and buried under eight stupas, with two further stupas encasing the urn and the embers. Dhamek Stupa was presumably among these eight stupas, and Mauryan King Ashoka may have commissioned its expansion.[10] But the current Dhamek Stupa, as visible today, was conlusively dated to the Gupta period, in the 5th-6th century CE.[1][11]

A 17th-century Jain manuscript describes a Jain temple in Varanasi as a pilgrimage site for Jains. The temple is located close to "a famous Bodisattva sanctuary" at a place called dharmeksā.[5]

In what is the first incontrovertible reference to the ruins at Sarnath, Jonathan Duncan (a charter member of the Asiatic Society and later Governor of Bombay) described the discovery of a green marble reliquary encased in a sandstone box in the relic chamber of a brick stupa at that location. The reliquary was discovered in January 1794, during the dismantling of a stupa (referred to by Alexander Cunningham as stupa "K" or the "Jagat Singh stupa",[12] later identified as the Dharmarajika Stupa)[13] by employees of Zamindar Jagat Singh (the dewan of Maharaja Chait Singh, the Raja of Benares).[14] Duncan published his observations in 1799.[15][16][17] The reliquary contained a few bones and some pearls, which were subsequently thrown into the Ganges river.[18] The reliquary itself has also disappeared, although the outer sandstone box was replaced in the relic chamber, where it was rediscovered by Cunningham in 1835.[14] The bricks of the stupa were hauled off and used for the construction of the market in Jagatganj, Varanasi.[19] Jagat Singh and his crew also removed a large part of the facing of the Dhamek Stupa, and removed several Buddha statues which he retained at his house in Jagatganj.[20]

GalleryEdit

  • As it appeared in 1814

  • As it appeared in 1891

  • As it appeared in 1905. 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.

  • As it appeared in 2008

  • Dhamekh Stupa wall close-up, as it appeared in 2008

  • As it appeared in 2009

  • As it appeared in 2009 (close-up view)

  • Plaque at Sarnath historical site, outlining the history of Dhamekh Stupa (2010)

  • As it appeared in 2019. Camera angle from the ruins of the ancient Mulagandha Kuti Vihar towards the Dhamek Stupa; the Shreyanshnath Jain Temple can be seen on the right side of the photograph (the Panchayatan Temple can also be seen in the middle).

ReferencesEdit

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dodson, Michael S. (31 January 2021). Banaras: Urban Forms and Cultural Histories. Taylor & Francis. p. 75, note 39. ISBN 978-1-000-36564-1. However, the Dhamek was conclusively dated as a Gupta period (5th-6th century) monument (...) and was shown not to have been built by the Mauryas Emperor Ashoka
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Sarnath attractions that you shouldn't skip". The Times of India.
  3. ↑ "Dhamekh Stupa Sarnath, Varanasi India". iloveindia.com.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Historical Places of the Buddha &#124". Igatpuri, Maharashtra, India: Vipassana Research Institute. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Oertel 1908, p. 60.
  6. ↑ "Dhamekh Stupa". Varanasicity.com. Retrieved 16 October 2006.
  7. ↑ "Dhamekh Stupa". Retrieved 19 September 2006.
  8. ↑ Bradnock, Robert W. Footprint India. Footprint Travel Guides, 2004. ISBN 1-904777-00-7. Page 191.
  9. ↑ Arnett, Robert A. India Unveiled. Atman Press, 2006. ISBN 0-9652900-4-2.
  10. ↑ "Stupas". Indian Heritage. Archived from the original on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2006.
  11. ↑ Sir Banister Fletcher's a History of Architecture, 20th ed. (ed. by Dan Cruickshank). Architectural Press, 1996. ISBN 0-7506-2267-9. Page 646.
  12. ↑ Oertel 1908, p. 65.
  13. ↑ Archaeological Survey of India (2014). "Dhamek Stupa". Our Monuments. Sarnath, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh: Archaeological Survey of India - Sarnath Circle. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Oertel 1908, pp. 61-62.
  15. ↑ Duncan 1799, pp. 131-133.
  16. ↑ Cunningham 1871, pp. 118-119.
  17. ↑ Asher 2020, p. 22.
  18. ↑ Sahni 1917, pp. 17–20.
  19. ↑ Sherring 1868, p. 26.
  20. ↑ Oertel 1908, pp. 62-64.

Cited worksEdit

Template:Sarnath Museum

Template:Archaeological sites in India

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