Sarnath....a Fantastico Historical place!

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 Varanasi remains one of the most visited cities in India for Indian tourists as well as foreigners. Travellers have various reasons for visiting this place. Remember the movie Queen? When Kangna Ranaut asks Lisa Haydon whether she has been to India, Lisa says she had been to Varanasi. The reason being she got the best 'Hashish' there :D he he..Well as I said people have different reasons for visiting this place. Some get good cannabis here while others come for a deeper insight into religion. In a nutshell, its a fantastico place!
 Although its the city of Hinduism, Varanasi is one of the largest Buddhist centres of India. This is one big reason while celebrities like Richard Gere, Goldie Hawn, Sharon Stone, Ashley Judd, etc etc come here. Recently, even Lauren Conrad too touched this city. How I wish I would have been there!

This place is the epicentre of Buddhism as Lord Buddha made his first followers here. Also if you still remember history, Emperor Ashoka, the ruler of Mauryan Dynasty, embraced Buddhism here. After the war of Kalinga, he was so devastated with the blood shed that he embraced non violence and became a Buddhist.
All these historic events have occurred at a small town around 13 kms from Varanasi called Sarnath. I am a bonafide resident of Varanasi...I mean its my hometown! But that does not mean that I should take my fantastico hometown as granted. I should in fact thank my stars. I was privileged enough to have visited this holy place! 

The Dhamekh Stupa..


It was a rainy day when we went there. The sun was playing peek a boo with the clouds. Often we had to scurry to a shed to save ourselves from getting drenched! Still, my and my wife's hair and clothes were wet and limp throughout the day. The result: poor pictures! It took one whole day to visit all the sites. We were in a hurry so I would like to go visit again. This time more pictures from a blogger's point of view! Hopefully it does not rain that time!


Overcast sky and crazy breeze...



The ruins of the Ashoka Pillars... The national emblem of India, the Ashoka Stambha has been adapted from these remains in Sarnath..


A replica of the Ashoka Chakra

The Ashoka Stamhba...the national emblem of India..

young monks in the making...

eternally in love with Buddhist architecture...
Being the photographer, my wife's pictures feature more than mine. I love clicking her and prefer to remain behind the lens. And the best part! Its incredible being a guide in my fantastico city. I mean I know every nook and corner of my hometown and whenever I take her there, I get to show her my favourite spots. This one was a fantastico experience indeed!This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

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