Pindola Bharadvaja
In Japan, Pindola is called , a short form of , and is arguably the most popular of all the Arhats. The monastery refectory near Tōdai-ji Temple at Nara has a large wooden statue of Binzuru, depicting him seated in the lotus position. Statues of him are usually well worn, since the faithful follow the custom of rubbing a part of the effigy corresponding to the sick parts of their bodies, as he is reputed to have the gift of healing. Nagano, whose Zenkoji temple also hosts a well-worn Binzuru statue, stages a yearly Binzuru festival. He is also very frequently offered red and white bibs and children's caps to watch over the health of babies, so that his statue is often decked in rags. He is represented in painting as an old man seated on a rock, holding in his hand a sort of sceptre (a Japanese "shaku)", or a sutra box and a feather fan. All the other Arahants are usually worshipped in Japan in his person. In Chinese community, Pindola is usually called Bīntóulú (), who is regarded as the "First in Blessings" (福田第一) disciple of Sakyamuni Buddha. His image is sometimes placed in a prominent position during any gatherings of monastics who share a vegetarian feast. Pindola Bharadvaja (Skt. Piṇḍolabhāradvāja; Tib. པིཎྜོ་ལ་བྷཱ་ར་དྭཱ་ཛཿ བྷ་ར་དྷྭ་ཛ་བསོད་སྙོམས་ལེན་, Bharadodza Sönyom Le; Wyl. bha ra dhwa dza bsod snyoms len) — one of the Sixteen Arhats.
Born into a family of royal chaplains, he found no meaning in this life. Seeing the gifts and favours that were bestowed on the Buddha's disciples he had decided to become a monk. At first he was very greedy, and went about with a large alms bowl, however, following the Buddha's personal advice he conquered his greed and lived strictly on whatever he received and soon became an arhat. He constantly showed his gratitude to the Buddha by obeying his words and working only for the benefit of others. Pindola Bharadvaja lives in a mountain cave on the eastern continent (Purvavideha) with 1,000 arhats. He carries a scripture in his right hand and an alms bowl in his left which he uses to aid those in the lower realms, conferring wisdom and granting wishes, protecting from misfortune
Regional Influence
Pindola Bharadvaja (Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja) is an Arhat in Buddhism. In Tibetan Thangka paintings depicting the 18 Arhats, Pindola Bharadvaja is usually depicted holding a book and begging bowl.