Christmas Eve! Today Galina and I walked the ghats in the morning and visited Sarnath in the afternoon. As we sat on the steps, two men were feeding the pidgeons some type of yellow dough, rolled into strings and pinched off into pellets that they tossed to the large flock of birds present.
Sarnath is the town where Buddha gave his first teaching after enlightenment. Tour buses lined the road as we approached the entrance to the monastery ruins. Beside the ruins, is an extremely large stupa, the top half being built by the Mughals. People had taken their white ceremonial scarves and flung them up onto the stupa for good luck giving it a special look and feel. The grounds were manicured lawns where groups of monks chanted and tourists sat in meditation at this holy place.
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| Huge Stupa |
Sarnath is the town where Buddha gave his first teaching after enlightenment. Tour buses lined the road as we approached the entrance to the monastery ruins. Beside the ruins, is an extremely large stupa, the top half being built by the Mughals. People had taken their white ceremonial scarves and flung them up onto the stupa for good luck giving it a special look and feel. The grounds were manicured lawns where groups of monks chanted and tourists sat in meditation at this holy place. All the major Buddhist countries have also built temples there including, Thailand, China, & Burma. The Thai temple compound includes a garden and reflecting pool opposite a stunning 100 ft. tall, very impressive statue of the Buddha. There is also a large museum that we did not have time to visit...maybe next time.
To help celebrate the holiday, I bought green and red candles for my room.
To help celebrate the holiday, I bought green and red candles for my room.
