Collections-Virtual Museum of Images and Sounds

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Subject: General view of the excavated site at Sarnath

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Subject: General view of the excavated site with Jain Mandir in the background

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Subject: Foundations of smaller stupas visible at the excavated site

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Subject: Foundations of smaller stupas visible at the excavated site

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Subject: General view of the excavated site with portions of Ashokan pillar enclosed in a glass structure on the left

Site Name: Sarnath

Date: 321-185 BCE

Subject: General view of the shrine. This shrine is located west of the Ashokan pillar and the Main Shrine and is oriented toward the east. It may have fallen into ruin by the Kushana or early Gupta period (fourth century).

Site Name: Sarnath

Date: 321-185 BCE

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Subject: Apsidal Shrine Signage

Site Name: Sarnath

Date: 268-232 BCE

Subject: Ashokan Pillar signage by ASI

Site Name: Sarnath

Date: 268-232 BCE

Subject: View of the pillar. The pillar shaft and capital were excavated in 1904-05. The capital is carved from a separate piece of sandstone. The pillar contains an eleven-line admonition to the monks and nuns as wells as the laity residing in Sarnath to avoid a schism. Portions of the pillar remain beneath a modern glass-enclosed structure.

Site Name: Sarnath

Date: 268-232 BCE

Site Name: Sarnath

Date: 400-599 CE

Subject: General view of the Panchayatana temple or Sunken shrine

Site Name: Sarnath

Date: 268-232 BCE

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Subject: This is the only large structure in the excavated area that has the characteristic appearance of a temple, and has a central location and is oriented toward the east. Signage at Sarnath describes this shrine as the Mulagandhakuti, the place where the Buddha sat in meditation. This name draws on Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang’s description of Sarnath.

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Subject: Detail of the shrine

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Subject: South Chapel, fragment with candrasala embedded in the base of west wall

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Subject: South Chapel, fragment with candrasala embedded in the base of west wall

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Subject: South Chapel, moulding from back of the west wall

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Subject: Archaeological remains of the main shrine called Mulagandhakuti

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Subject: Signage for Mulagandhakuti

Site Name: Sarnath

Date:

Subject: View of the South Chapel with foundation of smaller stupas in the front

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Archaeological Site of Sarnath (Asher Collection)