A view of the ruins of Jaulian,
Taxila.
Jaulian ( ) are the ruins of
an ancient buddhistic monastery near Taxila
, Punjab
, Pakistan
.
The Ruins
The ruins at Julian date from the fifth century CE and consist of
two main parts. These are 1) the main stupa and 2) the monastery
and university of Jaulian. The ruins are situated on a mountain
top. The form and building of the university at Jaulian is similar
to that of
Mohra Muradu that is about 1
Km away.
Main Stupa
The main stupa at Jaulian is badly damaged. It is surrounded by 21
votive stupas. Some experts think that a a few of the votive stupas
are actually tombs of revered monks. The statues at the the stupas
are mostly preserved. A number of these have been removed for
exhibitions at museums.
The original structure of the building of the Stupa along with the
plaster is preserved at some places.
A statue of buddha with a hole in the navel is an odd artifact. It
is called the "healing buddha". Pilgrims would put their fings in
the navel hole and pray for the ailment of the patients. The
inscription preserved under the statue shows that it was gifted by
a friar "Budhamitra Dharmanandin" . This inscription and a couple
of others at this site, show that the script was still used at
Taxila in the fifth century CE.
The Monastery
The monastery contained a number of rooms for the students in
addition to a large pool for washings. There are 28 such rooms. The
monastery consisted of a second floor with another 28 rooms. Stairs
of stone to the upper floor are still preserved. Statues of Buddha
are present in front of some of the rooms.
Each room had a window for supply of fresh air and as a source of
some light and a niche to hold the lamp of the student. The windows
are small at the outer end of the wall and become enlarged at the
inner end to keep wild animals out. The rooms were plastered and
decorated with painting. The outer wall of the monastery is well
preserved, which is very smooth and straight.
The monastery included a kitchen. A stone for grinding spices for
the food is well preserved as well as two stone mills that were
used to grind different types of grains. A hole in one of the
brickstones of the kitchen wall was used for placing large
spoons.
The monastery was burnt in 455 CE by the
White Huns and thus destroyed.
References
Gallery
Image:JaulianPlan.JPG |Plan of the ruins at
Jaulian.Image:JaulianTomb.JPG |A votive Stupa at
Jaulian.Image:JaulianNavel.JPG |"Healing Buddha," Buddha with a
navel hole.Image:JaulianInscription.JPG |An inscription under a
statue at Jaulian.Image:JaulianBuilding.JPG |Details of building at
Jaulian.Image:JaulianStairs.JPG |Stairs to the second
floor.Image:JaulianWindow.JPG |The window of a students
room.Image:JaulianWall.JPG |The outer wall of the
monastery.Image:JaulianBuddha.JPG |Statue of
Buddha.Image:JaulianPool.JPG |The pool for ritual
washings.Image:JaulianGrindingStone.JPG |The stone for grinding the
spices.Image:JaulianMill2.JPG |A mill for grinding grains.
See also
Wikis
Map
Search
