Cremation and Resurrection
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The Dhamekh Stupa looked imposing as a solid cylindrical
tower rising some42.6 meters. Inscriptions dated to 1026 unearthed
here indicate that its old name was Dharma Chakra Stupa, presumably
commemorating the spot where Buddha gave his first sermon.
As a Buddhist “noble man,” Anagarika Dharmapala first made a pilgrimage to Sarnath in 1891.
Finding the conditions of the sites “deplorable,” he determined to restore India’s places|
of Buddhist worship in an ambitious plan to “regenerate Buddhism” in that country. He was
encouraged by the then British rulers of India. In the course of forty years he succeed in
establishing centers of the Maha Bodhi Society of India (for the purpose of resurrecting
Buddhism in India and of restoring its ancient Buddhist shrines) with the support of Indian
Our guide said that they were among Indian Buddhists visiting from the
Himalayan region of Ladakh. There were also some Indian Buddhist women
on the lawn at this point.
More of them were on the lawn below. One of them told me that they|
were part of a group of 126 men and women visiting from Vietnam.
As we approached the stupa that dominated the scene we encountered
several grey clad Vietnamese pilgrims.
On the lawn two Buddhist monks sat in their red robes while three Buddhist
women moved their arms and went on their knees in prayers.
Accordingly, Buddhists consider Sarnath to be the birthplace of Buddhism. Pilgrims flock
here from all over the world. “Fewer than one percent of the population in India is now
Buddhist because Hinduism has become strong in this country,” our guide said. Although
Sarnath is also held holy by the Jains as “a site of asceticism,” where their 11th Tirthankara
(supreme religious leader) died, for centuries this place was not visited by many people.
The archeological work that began in 1789, and still continues
This was the district we were traversing. According to the newspaper, a
political party had announced that its members would wear black ribbons and
“organize a seminar to condemn the forces that were involved in the demolition.”
Our guide said this tea house was “the place to sit and experience Varanas
going by, especially the bodies being taken through the alley for cremation.”
Several men were drinking their tea from glasses.
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