A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c11.s1.8

c11.s1.8

Sārnāth, like Mathurā, was holy ground to the Jains as well as the Buddhists. The richly adorned buildings of both religions, crowded with sculpture, were involved in common ruin by the violence of the fierce hosts of Islam at the close of the twelfth century. The Brahmanical Hindus lavished their devotion on the neighbouring city of Benares, and shared the misfortunes of their rivals. The sculptors of Sārnāth ordinarily used the excellent pale sandstone from the quarries of Chanār (Chunar) in the Mirzāpur District, which had supplied the blocks for Asoka's pillars. But, as already observed, wealthy donors sometimes preferred to import red sandstone images from Mathurā. During the last few years much progress has been made in unearthing the buried treasures of Sārnāth, but much more remains to be found.