Sarnath : UNESCO World Heritage List
The “Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath” got inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
- Sarnath is located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
- It is counted among the holy pilgrimage sites of Buddhism.
- It is described in ancient Buddhist scriptures such as Rishipattan, Ishipatana, Mrigadava.
- It is now India’s 45th and Uttar Pradesh’s fourth World Heritage Site.
- It is the ancient sacred land where Lord Buddha, after attaining enlightenment, delivered his first sermon to humanity and set in motion the ‘Dharmachakra Pravartan’.
- The inscribed serial property comprises two component parts – Chaukhandi Stupa and the Archaeological Remains of Sarnath (Dhamekh Stupa, Dharmrajika Stupa, Mulagandhakuti Vihara, Ashokan Pillar, etc.).
- In historical period Sarnath was developed over centuries through royal, monastic and lay patronage.
- The site comprises an ensemble of ancient monuments constructed from the pre-Mauryan period (5th-4th centuries BCE to 3rd century BCE) up until the destruction of Sarnath in the 12th century CE.
- Sarnath has been one of the most extensively excavated sites by the Archaeological Survey of India which resulted in a stratified settlement spread across 16 centuries (5th-4th centuries BCE to 12th century CE).
