Hidden Gems of Kashi: What Most Tourists Miss in Varanasi Varanasi doesn’t hide its magic—the river is right there, the aarti is loud enough to pull you in, and the famous ghats are always waiting. What gets missed are the quieter layers: lanes that smell of jasmine and woodsmoke, small shrines with no queues, and craftsmen working behind unmarked doors.
Sarnath Varanasi – the second Online , Aktha Sarnath Sarnath, located just 12 km from the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, is the site of the deer park where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma after his enlightenment. Sarnath is one of the four holy Buddhist sites sanctioned by Lord Buddha himself for pilgrimage. The other three sites are Lumbini(birth, Bodh Gaya (enlightenment), and Kushinagar(death). Sarnath has previously been known as Mrigadava, "deer park," and Isipatana, meaning the place where holy men (Pali: ISI) fell to earth. The last name is based on the legend that devas came down to announce it to 500 holy men when the Buddha was born. The holy men all rose into the air and disappeared, and their relics fell to the ground. The current name Sarnath, from Saranganath, means "Lord of the Deer" and relates to another old Buddhist story in which the Bodhisattva is a deer and offers his life to a king instead of the doe he is planning to kill. The king is ...