Sri Sarnath Mandir

The Mulagandha Kuti Vihara stands near the ruins of the original shrine where the Buddha is said to have meditated for three months during the rainy season; the ancient structure, dating back to the Gupta period (5th century CE), was about 61 meters high according to the traveler Xuan Zang. The present temple, built in 1931 by Anagarika Dharmapala, founder of the Mahabodhi Society, represents the universality of Buddha’s teachings and was primarily funded by his American patron, Mrs. Mary Foster, with additional support from notable Indian donors and British nobleman Sir Harcourt Butler, who laid its foundation in 1922. Constructed from Chunar red sandstone with simple bell-shaped carvings, the vihara features remarkable frescos painted by Japanese artist Kosetsu Nosu between 1932 and 1936, illustrating the Buddha’s life from birth to parinirvāṇa, funded by English Buddhist B.L. Browton. The temple houses sacred relics believed to be those of the Buddha, received from stupas at Taxila and Nagarjunakonda, along with a large bell gifted by the Mahabodhi Society of Japan. Behind the main shrine lies a small stupa containing Dharmapala’s ashes, a deer park, and a monument marking his cremation site, while a statue of Dharmapala stands near the entrance. Across the lane is the Bodhi Tree, a sapling from Sri Lanka’s Anuradhapura Bodhi Tree, planted in 1931, surrounded by a pavilion built in 1989 by the Burmese Buddhist Society depicting the Buddha preaching to his first five disciples, and encircled by glass chambers housing Bodhisattva images, with a carved gate added in 1999.