Abstract
This paper aims to draw the religious life in Sarnath (and Varanasi) as accounted by the Chinese travellers—Fa-Hien and Hiuen-tsang. The accounts not only talk about the stupas, pillars, statues built by King Ashoka; vihars and monks (bhikshus) living in those vihars but also contain the first preachings of Lord Buddha, establishment of Sangha and the story of Mrigajataka that remain significant. With the increased popularity of Buddha dharma in China, the Chinese were attracted towards travelling to India. They came to India mainly with the intentions to visit the places related to the fond memories of Lord Buddha, to study the Buddha religion and philosophy and carry the copies of the Buddhist compositions. Fa-Hien and Hiuen-tsang occupy significant places among these Chinese travellers. These accounts can be associated with ancient history as well as with historical geography, religion and philosophy. While Fa-hien in his journey details had described about the Buddha Empire, Hiuen-tsang highlighted the civilisation of India and its cultural landscape, albeit it has been often accepted by the historians that these accounts of their journeys should be considered as significant only when they are backed by historical evidences. They opine that these travellers were mainly influenced by the Buddha dharma and therefore, their accounts are liable to containing exaggerated journey details. It is true that the journey details contain few imaginary instances; nevertheless, these accounts have been validated by the remnants, stupas and vihars at the sites.
Highlights
This paper is an attempt to sketch a critical appreciation of the account of the Chinese pilgrims: Fa-Hien and Hiuen-tsang on Sarnath— a site for heritage tourism and one of the four holy places associated with the life of Lord Gautama Buddha—the other three being Lumbini in Nepal, Bodh Gaya in Bihar and Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh
The purpose of this paper is to present a sketch of Sarnath and Varanasi as accounted by the Chinese travellers Fa-hien and Hiuen-tsang in the course of their journey
These accounts can be associated with ancient history as well as with historical geography, religion and philosophy
Summary
This paper is an attempt to sketch a critical appreciation of the account of the Chinese pilgrims: Fa-Hien and Hiuen-tsang on Sarnath— a site for heritage tourism and one of the four holy places associated with the life of Lord Gautama Buddha—the other three being Lumbini in Nepal, Bodh Gaya in Bihar and Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh. Located near the confluence of the Ganges and the Gomati rivers, the holy place of Sarnath is approximately 13-km northeast from the heritage city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The followers of Buddha dharma owe extreme faith towards Sarnath It is known as the place of its origin— a place where Gautama Buddha delivered his first sermon, known as Dharmachakrapravartansthala after he attained enlightenment in Bodhgaya. He first decided to preach his five disciples, who were previously his associates. He came to Sarnath and proposed the four noble truths, which are as follows:
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
