09.10.2022
Day 10
Today, we had a relaxed morning, a luxury in our tour schedule, thanks to road closure on account of festivities celebrating Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. We started our tour at 11.30 am.
Visit to BHU IIT campus was our first priority. #fulltankers NP is an alumnus of this famed university! We drove through various departments, visited Morvi hostel room where NP had stayed 46 years ago! Proud moment for NP and the fulltankers.
Sarnath, our next stop is a holy Buddhist site near Varanasi, where Buddha first taught the Dharma to his five (paanch - origin of word panchayath) disciples and where the Buddhist Sangha came into existence.
Excavation of archeological remains of Sarnath started in 19th Century. First by Sir Alexender Cunningham (1835-36) and followed by several others including Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Emperor Ashoka, after Kalinga war, devoted the rest of his life to ahimsa (non-violence). He built a Stupa of Buddha in 272 BC. This has been restored and preserved by ASI.
Emperor Ashoka also built several pillars (stupas) and the most celebrated is erected in Sarnath. The pillar remains where it was originally sunk into the ground, but the head with four life-sized lions set back to back on a drum-shaped abacus is displayed at the Sarnath Museum. The wheel on the abacus is the model for the wheel on India’s National Flag and National emblem of India is an adaptation of the lions on Ashoka pillar.
Sarnath is a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists from India and abroad.
We also visited Kashi Vishwanath temple, located on the banks of river Ganga. Varanasi was called Kashi ("shining") in ancient times, and hence the temple is popularly called Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
The locality is very crowded and the roads leading to the temple narrow. We parked our cab about 1 km from the entrance and took a cycle rickshaw to the gate. One cannot carry phone or camera inside the complex and we deposited them in a locker in a nearby shop, who offered it for free if we buy puja materials worth Rs.250/- Good business model indeed!
There are several check points before one can enter the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. The corridor is newly built and has transformed the area around the centuries-old temple with state-of-the-art buildings and connects the iconic Kashi Vishwanath temple and the ghats along the river Ganga.
The queue for darshan was long and #fulltankers CK took about 1.5 hours to get a darshan, while other fulltankers spent time enjoying the magnificence of the place.
Adjacent to the temple is Gyanvapi Mosque, a disputed structure. Entry is restricted to the Masjid complex.
It was a hectic day and we enjoyed our tour of this holy city (except the mad traffic and the roads). We are now ready for our journey to Khajuraho the next day!
At end of day ten - 3973 kms(no change as we hired car for local transport) on our tracker.
#fulltanker
No comments:
Post a Comment