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Jaulin is around 300 feet above the surrounding field level, and includes a Buddhist stūpa and vihāra of the late Kuśāna era. Mr. Natesa Aiyar excavated this site in 1916-17 under the direction of Sir John Marshall. The main stūpa, provided with a tall square plinth and an offset projection for the staircase on the northern side, leads to the circular drum, which had entirely collapsed.

The stūpa plinth is divided by pilasters, and adorned with colossal seated figures of the Buddha in meditation. On the eastern side, a Buddha image is inscrided in Kharoṣṭi with the name of the monk donor, Buddhamitra Dharmanandin. Around the main stūpa in the upper court, where twenty-one square votive stūpa are constructed. Five other votive stūpas occupy the lower court.

The monastery on the east is located on a slightly higher level and measures 97 feet by 106 feet with an open low quadrangular court in the middle and a line of cells all around with a covered verandha in front.

On the northern side, a cell converted into a chapel has 13 clay figures of the Buddha and another one was placed in the staircase leading to the upper part assembly hall, and has four pillar bases. Other structural remains south of the assembly hall are of kitchen storeroom, dining hall and a guard’s room close to the eastern entrance.

Some of the finest stucco sculptures have been shifted to Taxila museum for preservation. Other finds at the site include fragments of a Buddhist manuscript, written in Sanskrit and Brahmi characters of the 5th century and copper coins of the late Kuśāna and Indo-Sassanian rulers.

Jaulian had its own charm but perhaps due to economic strain, which followed the ruthless invasion of White Huns towards the end of the 5th century, it was deserted and left to share in the decay and end along with other Buddhist establishments in the Taxila valley.

Healing Buddha

This is a seated Buddha figure with as circular hole at the navel and an ex-voto inscription in Koroṣṭhi beneath, recording that it is the gift of Buddhamitra Dharmanandin, who delighted in the Dharma.

The healing Buddha is widely worshipped in Myanmar, Tibet, China and Japan. The hole at the navel was intended for a suppliant to place his or her finger in when offering prayers to cure certain boldiy ailments.

The discovery of the image of the Healing Buddha at Jaulain indicates that the cult originatesd from Gandhāra around the 3rd-4th century, or maybe even earlier, and afterwards spread all over the Buddhist world.