The following posts are from an afternoon I spent at the sacred Buddhist site of Sarnath, in India. The place is known as the spot where the Buddha first preached his philosophy after his enlightenment, called Deer Park in Sarnath. For over 2000 years it has been a focus of Buddhist pilgrimage. The story of Sarnath begins with the convert King Ashoka, who, after seeing the results of war, accepted the principle of Buddhist non-violence and philosophy. When Asoka, who ruled much of what is now India 268-232 BCE, accepted Buddhism (the Buddha lived some time around 500 BCE)  he actively promoted the religion, building stupas throughout his realm and erecting a series of ‘Edict Pillars’ in many sacred places. Here, too, at Sarnath an Edict Pillar was set up, and this picture is of a broken section of it, still showing, nevertheless, the script of Ashoka’s royal pronouncement (see posts below from Sarnath).