Sarnath, India
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Today I took a day trip to Sarnath, only 15 Km outside of
Varanasi, because it plays an important role in Buddhist history. It was here that the newly enlightened Buddha came to give is first lessons. This however was around 600 B.C. and somewhere through the long time period since then, the town was lost. When the British rediscovered the remains of temples here in the late 1800's, they began the town anew. Now, the small community, which has litterally been absorbed into the expanding city limits of
Varanasi, is a multicultural melting pot of Buddhists. People from many countries have established small communities here, as well as temples. There are Chinese, Burmese, Thai, Tibetan, Korean and Japanese temples. The sites themselves are modest, and all of them fairly new, but the area was nice and quiet, and it was great to finally see a religious site that hasn't been looted and partially destroyed over the years. The most interesting part of this place to me was that someone has somehow determined the exact spot where Buddhas first teachings took place, and they have planted a tree there that is a sapling from a tree in Bihar, whichis credited as being a direct descendent of the tree that Buddha attained enlightenment under! This was now many years ago and a small place of worship has been built around the tree.
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Early birthday present
Today we went a little crazy and got you a pet for your birthday. He is a beautiful Bearded Dragon that we found at the King Ed Pet Centre and his name is Irwin. Only problem is I need a little expert advice on what his likes and dislikes are. Can you help us out?
M&D
Irwin
Hey guys! IM so glad you got Irwin back!! If you need some help with him IM down the street... 312 7429!~
xo
Angie