Noted Tibetan doctor Yashi Dhonden passes away at 93

Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, November 26

Noted Tibetan doctor Yeshi Dhonden passed away early on Tuesday morning at his residence in McLeodganj near here. He was 93. A master of Tibetan medicine, Dhonden had recently retired owing to old age.

Dhonden’s medical centre in McLeodganj’s main market attracted cancer patients from India and abroad. Patients  would line up in the night in harsh winter to get tokens for an audience with him. Many passengers taking the flight to Dharamsala used to be his patients. His patients believed in his ‘magic touch’.

Dhonden was known globally for treating cancer patients using the Tibetan system of medicine. He had closed down his centre due to age-related health complications last year much to the disappointment of his patients.

He was also known for promoting health tourism in McLeodganj and had been awarded the Padma Shri.

A personal physician to the Dalai Lama for long, he is a master of Sowa-rigpa (Tibetan medical system).

Locals recall how he used to attend to around 40 patients a day, with several others on the waiting list.

A former director of the Tibetan Astro and Medical Institute that has global operations now, Dhonden did not rely on  allopathy and diagnosed his patients from fresh urine samples and pulse. His medicines were pellets created from secret herbs. Many patients claimed it helped slow down the growth of cancer cells.

“He did not look for X-rays or any other lab reports. He would just check the pulse and urine of the patient and tell you the effect of cancer cells in the body,” says Tenzin, one of his colleagues.

One of his disciples has opened a clinic in Garoh to fill the void, but many patients believe what made Dhonden special was not just his medicine but his “powers that helped”.