Sarnath: Just 10 Km from Varanasi sits the small town of Sarnath. Sarnath houses a major Buddhist site ( mostly in ruins ) and a number of tidy Buddhist & Jain temples. The main Buddhist site is set in a well cared for landscaped enclosure the main feature is the 46mt Stoupa which dominates the site. The remains of many temples can be seen most have been destroyed and the building materials used for private housing and building !!

Down the road from the Buddhist ruins is a small but very ornate Jain temple which we were allowed to take pictures of. Just a few meters down the same street there is a peaceful Japanese Buddhist Temple and a Tibetan Temple all of which are totally different to many we have seen so far in India. The Tibetan temple ( monastery ) with its many prayer wheels are a taste of what’s to come later in our travels, a nice day trip and being so close to Varanasi it would have been silly not to have explored this small town.

Buddhist site Sarnath.

Buddhist site and Stoupa.

Stoupa and gardens.

Jain Temple.

Ornate icons in the Jain temple.

Jain Temple Sarnath.

46mt Stoupa in the Buddhist temple complex from the Jain temple gardens.

Japanese Buddhist Temple.

Japanese Buddhist Temple showing the elegant wooden reclining Buddha.

Entrance Buddha to the Tibetan Monastery.

Ornate wall painting, Tibetan Temple Sarnath.

Spot the Dragon... I think I may regret putting this on the blog :-)

Prayer wheels in the Tibetan monastery.

A very large prayer wheel..

End of Sarnah blog, next up Darjeeling.

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