TAXILA: “I come here every month to offer my prayers by putting my finger in the naval hole of the ‘Healing Buddha’ and my spiritual as well body ailments are cured accordingly without taking any medicines,” says Xiao Wang, an Islamabad-based Chinese.

In the quietude of meditation chambers at the Jaulian Stupa and Monastery, an oriental man stood before the life size statue ‘Healing Buddha’ engrossed in meditation with his index finger inserted in its navel.

Located in the middle of the Julian range and on top of the sanctified, secluded and calm monastery, the ‘Healing Buddha’ is seated where religious tourists as well followers of Buddhism even today flock to offer spiritual practices, including meditation, prayers, especially seeking drug-free cure of their ailments.

Religious tourists visit the monastery locally known as Julian site or ancient Taxila university with the belief that putting their finger in the naval hole and praying for the alimenting of patients would help cure an illness.

An information board placed by the department of archaeology at the statue says: “The seated Buddha figure with a circular hole in the navel and an ex-voto inscription in Kharosthi beneath was the gift of one Budhamitra who delighted in the law dharma. The hole at the navel was intended for a suppliant to place his finger in when offering prayers against certain bodily ailments.”

Gandhara Art and Culture Association Secretary General Dr Kyo Soon Parkhas said the healing Buddha is widely worshiped in Myanmar, Tibet, China and Japan. She added that according to the popular belief in these countries some ailments are effectively cured by merely touching his image or calling out his name. She said that discovery of the statue of healing Buddha at Julian indicated that the cult originated from Gandhara around 3rd to 4th century or may be earlier and afterward spread over the Buddhist world.

She said that over centuries Buddhists in Central Asia, Tibet, China, Korea and Japan in particular have called upon the ‘Healing Buddha’ to cure their illnesses, either by praying directly to images of the deity or by rubbing sculptures on the parts of his body relating to their own particular ailment. She was of the view that Taxila served as an economic, political and cultural capital through many dynasties due to its strategic location and proximity to the Silk Route.

A.G. Lone, an archaeologist and former curator of Taxila Museum, said that this valley was centre of the Gandhara civilisation and destination for pilgrims from Central Asia and China. He said the monastery harbours revered ‘Healing Buddha’ that many religious tourists visit even today for its believed healing powers. Supplicants make offerings to the ‘Healing Buddha’ as the mere sight or touch of the statue is believed to be drug-free cures of their spiritual as well as bodily ailments.

The stucco plaster sculptures of the Buddha in the nearby votive Stupa are also worth seeing. He said that the monastery was unearthed during excavations under the supervision of eminent archaeologist Sir John Marshal in the early 20th century. He added that Buddhist Stupa and monastery had also been enlisted on the Unesco world heritage list.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2023