Prophecies, Contagion, and Protection — From the Black Death to COVID-19
This FWF-funded project (P36136) was hosted by the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies (ISTB) at the University of Vienna from December 2022 to October 2026.
Project Outline
In this project we explored Tibetan pandemic narratives, past and present, with a particular focus on prophecies, Tibetan medical (Sowa Rigpa) theories of infectious disease, protective pills, therapeutic recipes, and Buddhist rituals. We investigated Himalayan and Tibetan pandemic narratives from religious, medical, and ecological viewpoints, with specific attention to spirits, deities and disease-causing agents. We traced the history of Tibetan Buddhist and medical responses to pandemics and assessed contemporary (re)interpretations of Buddhist scriptures, medical therapies, and Himalayan ecologies. Our aim has been to place the past in conversation with the present through a narrative approach that contributes to a deeper understanding of Tibetan and Himalayan responses to pandemics.
The 13th-century Buddhist text titled Vase of Ambrosia contains instructions on a special black amulet pill made of nine ingredients (nag po dgu sbyor) as well as other anti-epidemic recipes. During the pandemic, these were used globally to prevent and treat COVID-19. Based on this observation, our project was guided by two hypotheses: (1) The Vase of Ambrosia emerged as a direct response to an outbreak of the Black Death in Tibet; and (2) The end-times prophecies, disease categories, protective pills, medical recipes, and ritual engagements with pathogenic agents that developed during the 13th and 14th centuries have informed Tibetan and Himalayan responses to infectious disease down to the present. To investigate these hypotheses, the team combined philological and ethnographical research (in India, Nepal, and Bhutan; as well as online) to analyze prophetic narratives, related ritual and medical instructions, evolving ideas of contagion, and the active roles of nonhuman forces in current end-time narratives.
Our textual analysis of Tibetan religious and medical sources contributes to discussions about the Black Death and its global history. In this research, we considered recent genetic studies that point to possible origins of the Black Death in Central Asia and Tibet. The historical and philological investigation of these hypotheses, particularly the relationship between the Vase of Ambrosia and the Black Death, are presented in a forthcoming book (see Outcome).
This project also contributes a nuanced study of Sowa Rigpa theories of infectious disease and reveals how past narratives have informed present-day pandemic responses.
In a collaborative, comparative online component, we also analyzed pandemic narratives and therapeutic approaches documented by Sowa Rigpa professionals and Tibetan and Himalayan communities.
The project findings have been presented in academic publications, conference papers, and contributions to the project website. For further details, see the Research Outcomes and Publications sections.
Project Archive
This website documents the project’s research activities, publications, and collaborations. Following the completion of the project, the website will remain available as an archive and will no longer be regularly updated. Information on researchers’ affiliations, ongoing work, and forthcoming publications reflects the status at the time of archiving in October 2026.
Background image caption:
COVID-19 awareness poster painted by a student at the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Choglamsar, Leh, Ladakh.
Photo: Jan van der Valk.