A long flourishing, then a long silence
For many centuries Sarnath was a working Buddhist centre with stupas, shrines and large monasteries. Then it faded, and by the time European officials took an interest in the late eighteenth century, local people knew it mainly as a group of mounds near Banaras. The story of how it was recovered is partly a story of accident, partly one of careful archaeology, and partly one of damage done along the way.
Many of the dates and names below come from colonial-era records and later scholarship. Where details differ between sources, they are given in approximate terms.
Decline
The decline of Sarnath was gradual. Chinese travellers described active monasteries in the fifth and seventh centuries, and the site seems to have remained important for several centuries after that. Inscriptions and building remains suggest that new construction took place as late as the twelfth century, including a large monastery associated with a local royal family.
The site then seems to have been destroyed or abandoned around the end of that century. Evidence of fire in some of the buildings is usually linked to the military campaigns that swept through the Ganges plain at that time, though the precise events and responsibility are matters on which historians are cautious. The same period saw the decline of other great Buddhist centres in the region, including Nalanda, for reasons that scholars still discuss.
After that, the ruins were slowly buried and the stone and brick were taken for other uses. Over several centuries, the memory of the place as the site of the first teaching largely faded from local knowledge, although the tall brick stupa remained a landmark.
The 1790s: a stupa taken apart
The first widely reported discovery came in the 1790s. An official of the ruler of Banaras, usually named in English sources as Jagat Singh, had a large stupa dismantled to obtain bricks and stone for building a market in the city. Inside, workmen found a stone box containing a smaller casket, with bones and ornaments. These were reportedly placed in the Ganges soon afterwards.
An account was sent to the colonial authorities in Banaras and published in the late 1790s, which brought the site to the notice of scholars. The destroyed monument is generally identified as the Dharmarajika Stupa, whose foundations now survive. Because the objects were not preserved, much of what was lost cannot be recovered.
Nineteenth-century surveys and digs
In the following decades, British officers and surveyors examined the site. The best known early investigator was Alexander Cunningham, who in the 1830s and again later explored the area and cut into the large cylindrical stupa and the mound to the south. He also compared the ruins with the descriptions left by Xuanzang and used them to support the identification of the place with Isipatana. Other officers carried out digging in the 1850s, though by modern standards the work was uneven and sometimes destructive.
Stone and brick from the ruins were again taken for building in Banaras during the nineteenth century, including, according to some accounts, for repairs to a bridge. The scale of such reuse is hard to measure, but it contributed to what we now see: foundations rather than standing buildings.
Twentieth-century excavation
A more systematic phase began in the early twentieth century under the Archaeological Survey of India. Excavations in the years around 1905 uncovered the foundations of the main shrine and monasteries, as well as the Ashokan lion capital. Further campaigns in the following decade, led by Indian and British archaeologists, cleared much of the area visible today and recorded the sequence of building phases. A museum to house the finds was completed around 1910.
As excavation proceeded, the site was also placed under protection. Some of the finds, including inscriptions, helped to date the later monasteries and confirmed the picture that Sarnath had been a major centre over many centuries.
Revival
The twentieth century also saw a renewal of Buddhist activity. The Maha Bodhi Society built a new temple in the early 1930s, and pilgrims from Sri Lanka, Tibet, Thailand, Japan and other countries followed with their own temples. Large commemorations in the 1950s marking the 2500th anniversary of the Buddha, by the traditional count used in several countries, increased public attention. The archaeological park continues to be maintained by Indian authorities, and the site is now a significant destination for Buddhist pilgrims and for visitors interested in ancient Indian art.
This history connects with a wider story of how many Buddhist sites in India were identified and recovered in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a process that relied heavily on the accounts of Chinese pilgrim monks and on archaeological rediscovery.
What the story means for a visit
When you walk through Sarnath, the low walls and foundations are the result of both ancient abandonment and modern recovery. Some of what remains was reconstructed or consolidated by conservators, so not every wall is original. Signs on site and the museum are the best guides to current interpretations, which can change as research continues. Opening times, rules and conditions may change, so check official sources before travelling.