It was due to initiative of Sir John Marshall, the then Director General of Archaeology in India, that this museum was created.

Sarnath has yielded a rich collection of sculptures, artefacts and edifices comprising numerous Buddha and Bodhisattva images and other ancient remains.

The Buddha sits cross-legged, with eyes downcast in deep meditation, and a halo around his head.

The museum at Sarnath also houses a collection of figures and sculptures from the Mauryan, Kushana, and Gupta periods.

The angle from which this picture has been taken, minus the inverted bell-shaped lotus flower, has been adopted as the National Emblem of India showing the Horse on the left and the Bull on the right of the Ashoka Chakra in the circular base on which the four Indian lions are standing back to back.