Sarnath : The Appraisal

The history of Sarnath goes back to fourth century BCE till twelfth century CE. The book contains the comparative study of monuments at. Sarnath with the descriptions of Xuan-Zang and further with the archival records in the form of paintings, lithographs, line drawings and photographs. The harms occurred by humans or by nature is well documented. A beautiful collection of images related with Buddhism, Jainism and Brahmanism; their changing paradigm, significance of the Lord's hand postures and panels showing his life-scenes are described in this book with rare photographs. The terracotta figurines, seals, sealings and beads of different materials, bricks, arches and kirtimukhas are never given due importance before. Along with these hundreds of small votive stupas of stone and terracotta are duly categorized and described with their purpose of construction, plan & photographs, etc. The excavations carried out have ample proof of Sarnath being a manufacturing cum factory site, which is first time dealt with in this book.

Sarnath has the honour of securing Lord Buddha's holy relics in its premises and the history behind its expedition from Lord's parinirvana at Kuginagar to Sarnath is narrated in the book. The place is marked with memorial edifices by the great Mauryan king Agoka and further by Kaniska, Kumaragupta, Sthirpal, Vasantpal, Kumaradevi, etc. The bibliography, rare photographs and line drawings are very conscious and exhausting efforts to provide a complete picture of Sarnath. We wish that this book will be fruitful for the scholars, researchers, pilgrims, tourists and visitors alike.

Niharika ( b. 1958) did graduation, post-graduation and Ph.D. from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. She has eight books on history and archaeology, two books of Hindi stories and one of Hindi poems and more than 35 papers and articles published in National and International journals and magazines to her credit. She is Chief Editor and Publisher of a journal named "Arnava". She has won first prize of Ministry of Culture for her archaeology book.

Ajay Srivastava (b. 1955) did graduation and post-graduation from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He has one book on archaeology which has received First Prize of Ministry of Culture, India and many papers and articles published in National and International journals to his credit. He is Editor of "Arnava". Now, working as Curator, Crafts Museum Varanasi, he served in Archaeological Survey of India for more than 32 years in different capacities, retired in 2015.

Sachin Kr. Tiwary (b. 1985) did graduation and post-graduation from B.H.U., Varanasi; P.G. Diploma in Archaeology from Institute of Archaeology, New Delhi and Ph.D. from Patna University, Patna. After serving as an Archaeologist in different capacities in Archaeological Survey of India; he is presently working as Assistant Professor in the Dept. of AIHC and Archaeology, B.H.U., Varanasi. He has 3 books and more than 35 papers in national and international journals to his credit. He is Associate Editor of "Arnava".

`Sarnath: The Appraisal', is a book of Sarnath and its appraisal. Sarnath is appraised by so many scholars, historians, art-critics, art lovers, etc. This book presents Sarnath's hidden aspects which are, though, before everybody's eyes, but still are not given due importance, and which should be given due importance and appraisal.

The Buddha, previously known as Siddhartha and Gautama, was born in Lumbini or Rummandei on the border of Nepal. Son of Mayadevi and Suddhodan, the king of Sakyan clan, this prince was over whelmed with the sorrows of life, when he saw an old, a diseased and a dead man respectively. He saw a happy ascetic in the last and wondered what could be the way of happier life. When he was twenty-nine years of age, he left his beautiful wife Yagodhara and newly born child Rahul, father and the crown and as an ascetic retreated into the solitude of the forest in quest of eternal virtues of life. He first approached Alar Kalama and then Ramputra Udraka, but was not satisfied. Traveling on, He reached Uruvela by the side of River Niranjand. Realizing the utter futility of self-mortification, he gave up self- torture and extreme fasting and took kheer (rice and milk cooked with sugar) brought by a girl named Sujata. Then Siddhartha sat down under a pipal tree and made the final effort with inflexible resolution. Then he attained enlightenment, hence he is called Buddha, meaning the enlightened one'. He reached Isipatan or Rsipatana Mrgadaya/ Mrgadava in Sarnath at Varanasi, i.e. Kasi known as Banaras in Uttar Pradesh today, and delivered his first sermon to his five friends of earlier times and thus turned the wheel of law(dharmachakrapravartana).

"Thus the Wheel of the Law of twelve forms has been set in motion and has been understood by Kundinya and the Three Jewels have sprung up. The Buddha, the Law and the Community, these are the three Jewels, carried from one to the other, the Words reached the adobe of the City of Brahma. It has been turned - the spotless Wheel of the Law by the Lord of the World, the Saviour and there have come forth the three Jewels very hard to attain in this world" (Lalita-vistara, ed. Lefmann 1875/1902: 421). The five friends of earlier times; seeing Him as approaching them in Rsipatana remembered how he had forsaken the rigid vows of ascetic life and had taken kheer and they decided not to rise from their seats to show respect. But as soon as he approached them; the five mendicants could not control themselves due to Lord's splendour and majesty and stood on their feet and welcomed him with all gesture and respect by cleaning the place, spreading grass and asking him to sit there. The Lord; then announced to them that He had attained the Supreme State of Wisdom or the Buddhahood and He will preach them this newly found Wisdom during the third watch of the ensuing night.

Atta dipo bhava' (Be your own lamp) said the Buddha. The deliverance of human kind is possible only when they are free from the feelings of authorship or from the status of acting agency. He showed common people the road to witness truth by rising from their contemptible ignorance through self-discipline, love, compassion and firm determination. The Four Noble Truths and the Great Eightfold Path lead towards attaining eternal bliss.

Sarnath had an important place in the Buddhist religion. After the Buddha's Mahaparinirvana, when the great Mauryan king Asoka followed Buddhism, the places hollowed by the Master's memory were marked with stone stupas, columns, huge monasteries and temples etc. The whole area of the deer park or mrgadava was covered with such memorial constructions. Which were further enriched by Kaniska, Kumaragupta, Sthirpal, Vasantpal, Kumaradevi, etc. of different dynasties in different periods. These are described in the first chapter, entitled as "The History of Sarnath". The history of Sarnath, archaeologically and artistically, was previously dated to Mauryan King Asoka's regime in third century BCE. It reached its zenith in Gupta period and to its end in 11th-12th century CE. But, now the history of Sarnath can be dated to fourth century BCE, as one dish of black slipped ware with a pre-Mauryan stamped symbol, was unearthed and a radiocarbon date, which is 385 BCE, is also found from a piece of charcoal, collected from this site in the recent excavations of Sarnath in February-July, 2014.

Sarnath is being visited by the pilgrims and tourists since distant past as Buddha himself had directed to visit four places, i.e. Lumbini, Bodhgaya, Sarnath and Kusinagar related with his birth, enlightenment, first preaching and great demise respectively. Among the visitors of Sarnath Fa-hien, Xuan-Zang and I-Tsing are especially noteworthy, as their records of travel are very interesting and informative too. These travelogues reveal the facts of construction and destruction while taking an approach of studying the archaeological remains in comparison to the written documents. This aspect is given in the research paper entitled "Excavated Remains of Sarnath and Description of Xuan-Zang". This becomes more interesting and thought provoking in the next article which takes readers to a journey of Sarnath through archival records. It gives a glimpse of the unseen monuments and artifacts which were revealed and conserved. It also shows that the archaeologists responsible for the up keep of these monuments are so eager towards their duties which will make it possible to hand over these cultural heritages to the next generations. Sarnath is excavated for so many times and the last excavation took place in 2014. These excavations have ample proof of Sarnath being a manufacturing cum factory site, where images, bas reliefs, lintels, door jambs etc. of stone were being manufactured and carved with artistic designs. A careful survey is done in this regard and the results are penned in this book with Dr S. Krishnamurthi, Assistant Epigraphist, ASI, Mysuru.

The ecological concerns are tremendously needed at the priority basis in present global conditions to save the earth and its inhabitants, may it be human being or flora and fauna. This difficult task can become very easy, if we just follow the teachings of Lord Buddha, which he himself had followed. These glimpses of ecological concerns are also given in the beginning section.

Being the birth place of eleventh tirthankara ,Sreyansanatha, Sarnath is a sacred place of Jainas too. Hindus also consider it a pious place as Lord Siva resides here for the whole month of 'Sravana'. A temple of Lord Siva named as Saranganatha is located in this area. The followers of Buddhism, Brahmanism and Jainism live with mutual harmony at this place. A beautiful collection of images - Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jaina are restored in the museum of Sarnath. A critical study of these images, made of either stone or mud is given in this book with rare photographs. A gradual change and development had obviously occurred at Sarnath, which is known as a separate and specific art style named as "Sarnath School of Art", with its serene beauty and aesthetic competence. This art form had reached to its zenith in Gupta period. Before this the religious tradition of presenting Lord Buddha with symbols and then his personification in the form of Bodhisattva images and gradual transformation of art form according to religious thoughts are very prevalent and noteworthy. All these aspects with changing paradigm of art, from the beginning in Maurya period and to the end in medieval period are dealt with full details in different articles giving picturesque information about the hand postures of the Buddha and different scenes of his life. The book deals with the small items of art like terracotta figurines, seals, sealings and beads of different materials too.

There are many aspects of Sarnath, which have never been dealt with before, like architectural parts of the huge edifices like bricks, arches and kirtimukhas, etc., though these are important and inseparable parts of monuments of Sarnath and its vicinity. Actually these are the basic elements of any structure which give strength and beauty to its everlasting features. These aspects are being described with thoughtful classifications and details in the book. The chapter -Decorative and Functional Arches: New Dimensions" is jointly written with Dr Manisha Singh, Assistant Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, Sarnath Circle, Sarnath, Varanasi.