Dhamek Stupa: Difference between revisions
→History: added text and inline citation |
added ==Cited works== section |
||
| Line 62: | Line 62: | ||
==References== |
==References== |
||
{{Reflist|33em}} |
{{Reflist|33em}} |
||
==Cited works== |
|||
*{{cite book|last=Cunningham|first=Alexander|author-link=Alexander Cunningham|title=Four reports made during the years 1862-63-64-65|volume=1|chapter=Banaras Sarnath|pages=103–130|publisher=[[Archaeological Survey of India]]|location=Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India|year=1871|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.94077/page/n225/mode/2up}} |
|||
*{{cite journal|last=Duncan|first=Johnathan|authorlink=Jonathan Duncan (Governor of Bombay)|title=An Account of the Discovery of Two Urns in the Vicinity of Benares|journal=[[The_Asiatic_Society#Journal_of_the_Asiatic_Society|Transactions of the Society Instituted in Bengal, for enquiring into the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences and Literature, of Asia]]|volume=5|pages=131–3|year=1799|url=https://archive.org/details/asiaticresearche05asia/page/130/mode/2up}} |
|||
*{{cite book|last=Oertel|first=Friedrich Oscar|author-link=F. O. Oertel|title=Archaeological Survey of India Annual Report, 1904–1905|chapter=Excavations at Sarnath|publisher=Superintendent Government Printing, India|location=Calcutta|year=1908|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.207530/page/n97/mode/2up}} |
|||
{{commons category|Dhamekh Stupa}} |
{{commons category|Dhamekh Stupa}} |
||
Revision as of 21:52, 3 January 2023
| Dhamek Stupa धामेक स्तूप (in Hindi) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Buddhism |
| Status | Preserved |
| Location | |
| Location |  Sarnath, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India |
  Location in Uttar Pradesh, India  Dhamek Stupa (Uttar Pradesh) | |
| Administration | Archaeological Survey of India |
| Geographic coordinates | 25°22′51″N 83°01′28″E / 25.3808°N 83.0245°E |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Stupa |
| Style | Buddhist, Gupta |
| Completed | 500 CE |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 28 metres (92 feet)[1] |
| Width | 28 metres (92 feet)[1] |
| Height (max) | 43 metres (141 feet)[1] |
| Materials | white makrana marble |
Dhamek Stupa (also spelled Dhamekh and Dhamekha) is a massive stupa located at the archaeological site of Sarnath in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.[2] Dhamek Stupa marks the precise location where the Buddha preached his first discourse to his first five disciples (Kaundinya, Assaji, Bhaddiya, Vappa and Mahanama), and where all five eventually became fully liberated.[3]
Etymology
The name Dhamek derives from the Sanskrit word dharmeksā, which means "pondering of the law" in the Sanskrit language.[4]
Location
Dhamek Stupa is located 180 metres (590 feet) to the east of Dharmarajika Stupa at the archaeological site of Sarnath. Sarnath is located 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) to the northeast of Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, India.
Description
Dhamek Stupa is the most massive structure in Sarnath.[5] In its current shape, the stupa is a solid cylinder of bricks and stone reaching a height of 43.6 meters and having a diameter of 28 meters. The basement seems to have survived from Ashoka's structure, while the stone facing displays delicate floral carvings characteristic of the Gupta era. The wall is covered with exquisitely carved figures of humans and birds, as well as inscriptions in Brahmi script.[6] The stupa was enlarged on six occasions but the upper part is still unfinished.[7] While visiting Sarnath in 640 CE, Xuanzang recorded that the colony had over 1,500 priests and the main stupa was nearly 300 feet (91 m) high.[8]
An Ashoka pillar with an edict engraved on it stands near the site.
History
Dhamek Stupa marks the precise location where the Buddha preached his first discourse to his first five disciples (Kaundinya, Assaji, Bhaddiya, Vappa and Mahanama), and where all five eventually became fully liberated.[3] This event marked the formation of the sangha. Several of the ancient sources describe the site of this first sermon as a Mriga-dayaa-vanam or a sanctuary for animals. (In Sanskrit, the word mriga is used in the sense of game animals, with deer being the most common).
After the parinirvana of the Buddha in 544 BCE, his remains were cremated and the ashes were divided and buried under eight stupas, with two further stupas encasing the urn and the embers. Dhamek Stupa was presumably among these eight stupas. In 249 BCE, Mauryan King Ashoka commissioned the expansion of Dhamek Stupa.[9] Dhamek Stupa was further expanded in 500 CE.[10]
A 17th-century Jain manuscript describes a Jain temple in Varanasi as a pilgrimage site for Jains. The temple is located close to "a famous Bodisattva sanctuary" at a place called dharmeksā.[4]
In the earliest mention of the ruins at Sarnath in modern literature,[11] Jonathan Duncan described the discovery of a stone reliquary. The reliquary was discovered in January 1794, during the dismantling of the Dharmarajika Stupa by employees of Babu Jagat Singh (an official of the government of Maharaja Chait Singh of Banaras).[12][13]
Gallery
-
Dhamek Stupa, as it appeared in 1891 -
Dhamekh Stupa -
History of Dhamekh Stupa -
Dhamekh Stupa close-up -
Dhamekh Stupa wall close-up -
Sarnath - Plan of Excavations
_(14583657009).jpg)
References
- ^ a b c "Sarnath attractions that you shouldn't skip". The Times of India.
- ^ "Dhamekh Stupa Sarnath, Varanasi India". iloveindia.com.
- ^ a b "Historical Places of the Buddha |". Igatpuri, Maharashtra, India: Vipassana Research Institute. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ a b Oertel 1908, p. 60.
- ^ "Dhamekh Stupa". Varanasicity.com. Retrieved 16 October 2006.
- ^ "Dhamekh Stupa". Retrieved 19 September 2006.
- ^ Bradnock, Robert W. Footprint India. Footprint Travel Guides, 2004. ISBN 1-904777-00-7. Page 191.
- ^ Arnett, Robert A. India Unveiled. Atman Press, 2006. ISBN 0-9652900-4-2.
- ^ "Stupas". Indian Heritage. Archived from the original on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2006.
- ^ Sir Banister Fletcher's a History of Architecture, 20th ed. (ed. by Dan Cruickshank). Architectural Press, 1996. ISBN 0-7506-2267-9. Page 646.
- ^ Cunningham, Alexander (1871). Four reports made during the years 1862-63-64-65. Vol. 1. Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India: Archaeological Survey of India. pp. 103–30.
- ^ Duncan, Johnathan (1799). "An Account of the Discovery of Two Urns in the Vicinity of Benares". Transactions of the Society Instituted in Bengal, for enquiring into the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences and Literature, of Asia. 5: 131–2.
- ^ "Buddhist Trails in Sarnath". Explore Varanasi. Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India: incrediblevaranasi.com. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
Cited works
- Cunningham, Alexander (1871). "Banaras Sarnath". Four reports made during the years 1862-63-64-65. Vol. 1. Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India: Archaeological Survey of India. pp. 103–130.
- Duncan, Johnathan (1799). "An Account of the Discovery of Two Urns in the Vicinity of Benares". Transactions of the Society Instituted in Bengal, for enquiring into the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences and Literature, of Asia. 5: 131–3.
- Oertel, Friedrich Oscar (1908). "Excavations at Sarnath". Archaeological Survey of India Annual Report, 1904–1905. Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, India.
