Sarnath is situated at a distance of 8 km from Varanasi easily accessible by any conveyance. There are several monuments at Sarnath which are divided into two groups. Under Group 'A' Chaukhandi Stupa and under Group 'B all other .monuments at the sites i.e. Stupas, monasteries, temples, etc
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Chaukhandi Stupa is a lofty brick structure crowned with an octagonal tower. The octagonal tower is a Mughal monument built by Goverdhan, the son of Raja Todarmal in A.D. 1588 to commemorate the visit of Humayun to this place.

The second group which contains remains of several stupas, monasteries and Ashokan column are built in brick and stone and datable from the 3rd century B.C. to 12th century A.D., forms the major and important segment of the site. The Ashokan column Dharamrajika stupa, Dhameka stupa, the remains of the temple and a series of monasteries and votive stupas are the most important remains of the site.

The Asokan pillar surmounted by the magnificent lion-capital now adopted as India's State emblem bears the edict of Asoka and two other inscriptions of the kushan and Gupta Kings. The Lion-capital (now housed in the Sarnath Museum) measures 2.3 m in height and has a bell-shaped base with lotus leaves, a round abacus with an elephant, a horse, a bull and a lion in relief and four seated lions emerging from one block of stone. Sir John Marshall, the famous Archaeologist observed:

"Both bell and lions are in an excellent state of preservation and masterpieces in front of both style and technique-the first carvings, indeed,that India has yet produced and unsurpassed, I venture to think, anything of their kind in the ancient world."