Dhamek Stupa: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Gupta-era stupa at Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India}}

| building_name         = Dhamek Stupa <br/> <small> धमेख स्तूप {{in lang|hi}}</small>

| image                 = Dhamek Stupa, Sarnath.jpg

| image_size           = 300px

| caption               = Dhamek Stupa is located in [[Sarnath]], [[Varanasi]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]]

| location             = {{flagicon|India}} [[Sarnath]], [[Varanasi]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]]

| coordinates           = {{coord|25.3808|83.0245|display=inline,title}}

| religious_affiliation = [[Buddhism]]

| architecture_type    = [[Stupa]]

| architecture_style    = [[Buddhist architecture|Buddhist]], [[Mauryan | Mauryan art]]

| 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>

| 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>

| width                 = {{convert|28|m|ft|abbr=off}}<ref name=timesofindia/>

| height_max           = {{convert|43|m|ft|abbr=off}}<ref name=timesofindia/>

| materials             = white makrana marble

| administration        = [[Archaeological Survey of India]]

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}}

==Location==

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.

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>

An [[Pillars of Ashoka|Ashoka pillar]] with an edict engraved on it stands near the site.

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).

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>''[[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><ref name="MSD"/>

<gallery perrow="6" widths="200px" heights="150px">

File:Sarnath Dhamek Stupa 1814.jpg|As it appeared in 1814

File:Indika. The country and the people of India and Ceylon (1891) (14583657009).jpg|As it appeared in 1891

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:Stupas around the Dhamekh Stupa, Sarnath.jpg|As it appeared in 2008

File:Dhamekh Stupa close up.jpg|Dhamekh Stupa wall close-up, as it appeared in 2008

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).

 

 

 

[[Category:Buddhist temples in Uttar Pradesh]]

[[Category:Buildings and structures in Varanasi]]

[[Category:Gupta Empire]]

[[Category:Sarnath|Dhamek Stupa]]