Sarnath is a place located 10 kilometres northeast of Varanasi, near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers in Uttar Pradesh, India. According to Buddhist tradition, Sarnath is where, circa 528 BCE, at 35 years of age, Gautama Buddha taught his first sermon after attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya. It is also traditionally considered as the place where the Buddhist sangha first came into existence as a result of the enlightenment of his first five disciples.