Wat Khmer Sarnath
Wat Khmer Sarnath is a Khmer Buddhist Wat on Asok Marg in Sarnath, near Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.[1] It stands near the place where the Buddha gave his first sermon.[2]
History
Khmer Buddhists in Cambodia and abroad built the Wat as an offering to Buddhism and as a home for Khmer monks studying the Dhamma and the Pali language. Its buildings follow Khmer style, and lay donors paid for them, with help from senior monks in Cambodia.[2]
As of 2013 the Wat's abbot was the Venerable Sem Pich (also written Sem Pech). It was then one of eight Khmer Wats at Buddhist sites in India, each with two or three resident monks, and Khmer pilgrims visiting the Buddhist holy sites could stay at the Wat.[2][1]
Religious life
The Wat follows the Theravada tradition.[1]