This regal museum set in a sprawling compound was completed in 1910. As it houses a wealth of Buddhist artifacts it is built to resemble a Buddhist monastery. The central hall is designed as the main chapel, the galleries as monastic cells and the verandah designed to be the front of cells. The whole building is made of sandstone with a flat roof.
Sarnath also has a host of magnificent temples, these include a Thai temple, a Burmese Temple, a Japanese temple and a Chinese temple.
Built several times over, the stupa is said to mark the spot in the deer park where Lord Buddha gave his first sermon.
Topped by the famous four-lion capital, which is the National Emblem of India it symbolises both Ashoka's imperial rule and the kingship of the Buddha.