Sarnath

The third and final of my buddhist pilgrimages was a wonderful day trip from Varanassi and a great way to spend Christmas eve. Buddha's first serman after he was enlightened was conducted in the ancient grounds excavated by the British at Sarnarth which I think pre-tourism woudl have been a gentle little village on the edge of the chronically maniacal city of Varanassi.

The undoubted highlight was my sitting meditation under a tree at the approximate spot of the first sermon, as my companion for the day and I sat ourselves down, a group of thai monks and the group of Thai nuns and women with them began a chant, which honed my personal definition of the word "enchanting". It was fabulous and they loved the fact that we we were doing sitting meditation to their chant, they even asked if we wanted to join them for more walking chants around the area, we had some lovely conversations but declined as I would never have been able to do the chants without some kind of advance training and memorisation.NB: The crest of India is a pillar with four lions on the head of it facing in each direction.  The Lion Capital as it is known was found here in Sarnarth and I went to see it in a museum but you have to put your camera in a locker to be allowed in ...so nothing to show!