Mar 1, 2023

remembering Bamiyan Buddhas

Bamiyan Buddhas were two VI Century colossal statues sculpted into a cliff face in the Bamiyan valley in Central Afghanistan. As per archaeologists the 30m tall Small Buddha or the Eastern Buddha was created in 570 CE and the 55m tall Big Buddha or the Western Buddha was created in 618 CE. These idols were the largest standing Buddha statues in the world when Taliban destroyed them by bombing on March 2, 2001. I still remember seeing the sad news on tv, it stayed in my mind for months. Such a mindless act by the bigoted religious leaders! What did they possibly gain by destroying them? Satisfaction of adhering to the tenets of their religion? The irony is those religious leaders want to go back to primitive times with the aid of modern machinery.
There were countless appeals to Taliban to spare the Bamiyan Buddhas. Then after the destruction, there was outrage from across the world. But Taliban being Taliban went on to justifying their misdeed. In the following years there were efforts to reconstruct the Buddhas but there's no significant progress in the past two decades.
During my tour of Badami, I happened to notice a book on Bamiyan Buddhas at the museum's book counter. Apparently it was the only copy, the counter in-charge was hesitant to sell it. After a few minutes talk he relented and let me have it. This book covers the history of Bamiyan Buddhas with a lot of photos and pictures of paintings / sketches. The book also covers ASI's efforts towards restoring the Buddhas in the XX Century. Then it also covers the time of Taliban takeover which leads to the destruction. This is a rare book with valuable information.

I hope one day the Taliban will be gone for good, and Bamiyan Buddhas are restored to their former glory.
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