Dhamek Stupa

Dhamek Stupa is a large stupa positioned at Sarnath, 13 km far from Varanasi in the nation of Uttar Pradesh, India. Stupas originated as pre-Buddhist tumuli, in which ascetics had been buried in a seated position, referred to as chaitya. After the parinirvana of the Buddha, his remains have been cremated and the ashes divided and buried underneath eight mounds with two similarly mounds encasing the urn and the embers. Little is thought approximately those early stupas, particularly because it has not been possible to discover the original ten monuments.

However, some later stupas, together with at Sarnath and Sanchi, appear to be elaborations of in advance mounds. The Dhamek Stupa become built in 500 CE to replace an earlier structure commissioned with the aid of the fantastic Mauryan king Ashoka in 249 BCE, at the side of several different monuments, to commemorate the Buddha's activities in this region. Stupas originated as circular mounds encircled by large stones. King Ashoka built stupas to enshrine small pieces of calcinated bone and other relics of the Buddha and his disciples. An Ashoka pillar with an edict engraved on it stands near the site.