After our early morning on the Ganges we had a short break at the hotel and then left for Sarnath, supposedly the holiest of Buddhist shrines and the site where Buddha gave his lecture on enlightenment and the path to Nirvana in the 6th century BCE. There are several “Stupa” built to commemorate the Buddha. On the way, or more correctly while stuck in an enormous traffic jam that took hours to clear we were passed by numerous funeral processions heading the other way to the Ganges, where the wrapped and prepared body is carried in the open, either by jeep or more rarely by people. Sarnath, being as old as it is, is an archeological site that is visited in pilgrimage by many Buddhists where they leave gold leaf on the shrines. There is also an active Buddhist temple as well as an active Jain temple on the site. The contrast between the traditional Buddhist Monk and the contemporary one will become evident.
