Buddhas of Bamiyan

Commissioning Principalities of Tokharistan and northern Afghanistan (). Bamiyan lies on the Silk Road, which runs through the Hindu Kush mountain region in the Bamiyan Valley. The Silk Road has been historically a caravan route linking the markets of China with those of the Western world. It was the site of several Buddhist monasteries, and a thriving center for religion, philosophy, and art. Monks at the monasteries lived as hermits in small caves carved into the side of the Bamyan cliffs. Most of these monks embellished their caves with religious statuary and elaborate, brightly colored frescoes, sharing the culture of Gandhara. The Great Buddhas of Bamiyan were carved around 600 CE during the Hephthalites' rule as principalities in the areas of Tokharistan and northern Afghanistan. Bamiyan had been a Buddhist religious site since the 2nd century CE under the Kushans, and remained so up to the time of the Muslim conquest of the Abbasid Caliphate under Al-Mahdi in 770 CE. It became Buddhist again from 870 CE until the final Islamic conquest of 977 CE under the Turkic Ghaznavid dynasty. Before being blown up in 2001, they were the largest examples of standing Buddha carvings in the world (the 8th century Leshan Giant Buddha is taller, but is sitting). as a World Heritage Site along with the surrounding cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the Bamyan Valley. Their colour faded through time. Pre-modern era Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang visited the site on 30 April 630, and described Bamyan in the Da Tang Xiyu Ji as a flourishing Buddhist center "with more than ten monasteries and more than a thousand monks". He also noted both Buddha figures were "decorated with gold and fine jewels" (Wriggins, 1995). Intriguingly, Xuanzang mentions a third, even larger, reclining statue of the Buddha. A monumental seated Buddha, similar in style to those at Bamyan, still exists in the Bingling Temple caves in China's Gansu province. File:Buddhas_of_Bamiyan_1885.jpg|Engraving of the Buddhas, 19th century File:CH-NB - Afghanistan, Bamiyan, Bamyan (Bamian)- Menschen - Annemarie Schwarzenbach - SLA-Schwarzenbach-A-5-20-174 (cropped).jpg|Local men standing near the larger "Salsal" Buddha statue, File:Françoise Foliot - Afghanistan - 006.jpg|Photographed by Françoise Foliot File:BamyanBuddha Smaller 1.jpg|Smaller, 38 meter Buddha in 1977 File:Buddha of Bamiyan (reconstitution).jpg|Possible reconstitution of the original appearance of the Western Buddha File:Stamp of Afghanistan - 1951 - Colnect 487673 - Buddha of Bamian.jpeg|Bamiyan themed postage stamp (1951) issued by Postes Afghanes ==Mural paintings==

The Buddhas are surrounded by numerous caves and surfaces decorated with paintings. Eastern Buddha (built ) Most of the surfaces in the niche housing the Buddha must have been decorated with colourful murals, surrounding the Buddha with many paintings, but only fragments were remaining in modern times. For the 38 meter Eastern Buddha, built between 544 and 595 CE, the main remaining murals were the ones on the ceiling, right above the head of the Buddha. Recent dating based on stylistic and historical analysis confirms dates for these murals which follow the carbon-rated dates for the construction of the Buddhas themselves: the murals of the Eastern Buddha have been dated to the 6th to 8th century CE by Klimburg-Salter (1989), and post 635/645 CE by Tanabe (2004). Sun God Among the most famous paintings of the Buddhas of Bamiyan, the ceiling of the smaller Eastern Buddha represents a solar deity on a chariot pulled by horses, as well as ceremonial scenes with royal figures and devotees. He is riding a two-wheeled golden chariot, pulled by four horses. These figures must represent the donors and potentates who supported the building of the monumental giant Buddha. These murals disappeared with the destructions of 2001. File:Hephthalite sponsors at Bamiyan (ceiling of the 38 meter Buddha, detail of royal sponsors, enhanced).jpg|Probable Hepthalite rulers of Tokharistan, with single-lapel caftan and single-crescent crown, in the lateral row of dignitaries next to the Sun God. File:Bodhisattva, ceiling of the niche of the Great Western Buddha, early 7th century, Bamiyan.jpg|Bodhisattva, ceiling of the niche of the Great Western Buddha, early 7th century, Bamiyan File:Bamiyan devotee in double-lapel caftan.jpg|Devotee in double-lapel caftan, left wall of the niche of the Western Buddha. He has also been described as a Hephthalite. Adjoining caves Later mural paintings of Bamiyan, dated to the 7th–8th centuries CE, display a variety of male devotees in double-lapel caftans. The nearby Kakrak caves also have some works of art. File:Bodhisattva Maitreya, ceiling of the cave E, late 7th early 8th century, Bamiyan.jpg|Bodhisattva Maitreya, ceiling of the cave E, late 7th early 8th century, Bamiyan File:Buddha wearing a crown and cape. Painting in niche I at Bamiyan, 7th century CE.jpg|Buddha wearing a crown and a chamail cape. Painting in niche "I" at Bamiyan, 7th century CE File:Bamiyan, devotee in caftan, next to the Buddha.jpg|Devotee in double-lapel caftan, next to the Buddha. Cave G, Bamyan (detail) File:Bamiyan, the Buddha and devotee in caftan.jpg|Reconstructed mural of Cave G, Bamyan After the destruction of the Buddhas, 50 more caves were revealed. In 12 of the caves, wall paintings were discovered. In December 2004, an international team of researchers stated that the wall paintings at Bamyan were painted between the 5th and the 9th centuries, rather than the 6th to 8th centuries, citing their analysis of radioactive isotopes contained in straw fibers found beneath the paintings. It is believed that the paintings were done by artists travelling on the Silk Road. typically less than 1 mm across. The discovery may lead to a reassessment of works in ancient ruins in Iran, China, Pakistan, Turkey, and India. was dispelled by spectroscopy and chromatography giving an unambiguous signal for the intentional use of drying oils rather than contaminants. ==Attacks on the statues==

Taliban incursions (1998–2001) of Hepthalite royal sponsors on the ceiling have also disappeared. The town was captured on 13 September 1998 after a successful blockade. Abdul Wahed, a local Taliban commander who had long before announced his intentions to obliterate the Buddhas, drilled holes in the Buddhas' heads into which he planned to load explosives. According to United Nations representative Michael Semple: Other people blew off the head of the smaller Buddha using dynamite, aimed rockets at the larger Buddha's groin, and burnt tires at the latter's head. In early 2000, local Taliban authorities asked for the UN's assistance to rebuild drainage ditches around the tops of the alcoves where the Buddhas were set. During a 13 March interview for Japan's Mainichi Shimbun, Afghan Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel stated that the destruction was anything but a retaliation against the international community for economic sanctions: "We are destroying the statues in accordance with Islamic law and it is purely a religious issue." A statement issued by the ministry of religious affairs of the Taliban regime justified the destruction as being in accordance with Islamic law. Later, on 18 March 2001, then Taliban ambassador-at-large Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi said that the destruction of the statues was carried out by the Head Council of Scholars after a Swedish monuments expert proposed to restore the statues' heads. Rahmatullah Hashemi is reported as saying: "When the Afghan head council asked them to provide the money to feed the children instead of fixing the statues, they refused and said, 'No, the money is just for the statues, not for the children'. Herein, they made the decision to destroy the statues"; however, he did not comment on the claim that a foreign museum offered to "buy the Buddhist statues, the money from which could have been used to feed children". Rahmatullah Hashemi added: "If we had wanted to destroy those statues, we could have done it three years ago," referring to the start of U.S. sanctions. "In our religion, if anything is harmless, we just leave it. If money is going to statues while children are dying of malnutrition next door, then that makes it harmful, and we destroy it." Hashemi denied any religious grounds in the justification of the statues' destruction. Abdul Salam Zaeef held that the destruction of the Buddhas was finally ordered by Abdul Wali, the Minister for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. International reaction The Taliban's intention to destroy the statues caused a wave of international shock and protest. According to UNESCO Director-General Kōichirō Matsuura, a meeting of ambassadors from the 54 member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) was conducted. All OIC states—including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, three countries that officially recognised the Taliban government—joined the protest to spare the monuments. Saudi Arabia and the UAE later condemned the destruction as "savage". Although India never recognised the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, New Delhi offered to arrange for the transfer of all the artifacts in question to India, "where they would be kept safely and preserved for all mankind". These overtures were rejected by the Taliban. Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf sent a delegation led by Pakistan's interior minister Moinuddin Haider to Kabul to meet with Omar and try to prevent the destruction, arguing that it was un-Islamic and unprecedented. As recounted by Steve Coll: According to Taliban minister, Abdul Salam Zaeef, UNESCO sent the Taliban government 36 letters objecting to the proposed destruction. He asserted that the Chinese, Japanese, and Sri Lankan delegates were the most strident advocates for preserving the Buddhas. The Japanese in particular proposed a variety of different solutions to the issue, including moving the statues to Japan, covering the statues from view, and the payment of money. The second edition of the Turkistan Islamic Party's magazine Islamic Turkistan contained an article on Buddhism, and described the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan despite attempts by the Japanese government of "infidels" to preserve the remains of the statues. The exiled Dalai Lama said he was "deeply concerned". The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas despite protests from the international community has been described by Michael Falser, a heritage expert at the Center for Transcultural Studies in Germany, as an attack by the Taliban against the globalising concept of "cultural heritage". The UNESCO Director-General Kōichirō Matsuura called the destruction a "...crime against culture. It is abominable to witness the cold and calculated destruction of cultural properties which were the heritage of the Afghan people, and, indeed, of the whole of humanity." Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of the anti-Taliban resistance force, also condemned the destruction. In Rome, the former Afghan King, Mohammed Zahir Shah, denounced the declaration in a rare press statement, calling it "against the national and historic interests of the Afghan people". Zemaryalai Tarzi, who was Afghanistan's chief archeologist in the 1970s, called it an "unacceptable decision". Process of destruction The destruction was carried out in stages. Initially, the statues were fired at for several days using anti-aircraft guns and artillery. This caused severe damage, but did not obliterate them. During the destruction, Taliban Information Minister Qudratullah Jamal said that, "The destruction work is not as easy as people would think. You can't knock down the statues by dynamite or shelling as both of them have been carved in a cliff. They are firmly attached to the mountain." Later, the Taliban placed anti-tank mines at the bottom of the niches, so that when fragments of rock broke off from artillery fire, the statues would receive additional destruction from particles that set off the mines. In the end, the Taliban lowered men down the cliff face and placed explosives into holes in the Buddhas. After one of the explosions failed to obliterate the face of one of the Buddhas, a rocket was launched that left a hole in the remains of the stone head. A local civilian, speaking to Voice of America in 2002, said that he and some other locals were forced to help destroy the statues. He also claimed that Pakistani and Arab engineers were involved in the destruction. Mullah Omar, during the destruction, was quoted as saying, "What are you complaining about? We are only waging war on stones". Current status (2002–present) Though the figures of the two large Buddhas have been destroyed, their outlines and some features are still recognisable within the recesses. It is also still possible for visitors to explore the monks' caves and passages that connect them. As part of the international effort to rebuild Afghanistan after the Taliban war, the Japanese government and several other organisations—among them the Afghanistan Institute in Bubendorf, Switzerland, along with the ETH Zurich—have committed to rebuilding, perhaps by anastylosis, the two larger Buddhas. The local residents of Bamyan have also expressed their favour in restoring the structures. In April 2002, Afghanistan's post-Taliban leader Hamid Karzai called the destruction a "national tragedy" and pledged the Buddhas to be rebuilt. He later called the reconstruction a "cultural imperative". In January 2007, he was assassinated in Kabul. Swiss filmmaker Christian Frei made a 95-minute documentary titled The Giant Buddhas on the statues, the international reactions to their destruction, and an overview of the controversy, released in March 2006. Testimony by local Afghans validates that Osama bin Laden ordered the destruction and that, initially, Mullah Omar and the Afghans in Bamyan opposed it. Since 2002, international funding has supported recovery and stabilisation efforts at the site. Fragments of the statues are documented and stored with special attention given to securing the structure of the statue still in place. It is hoped that, in the future, partial anastylosis can be conducted with the remaining fragments. In 2009, ICOMOS constructed scaffolding within the niche to further conservation and stabilization. Nonetheless, several serious conservation and safety issues exist and the Buddhas are still listed as World Heritage in Danger. In the summer of 2006, Afghan officials were deciding on the timetable for the re-construction of the statues. As they waited for the Afghan government and international community to decide when to rebuild them, a $1.3 million UNESCO-funded project was sorting out the chunks of clay and plaster—ranging from boulders weighing several tons to fragments the size of tennis balls—and sheltering them from the elements. The Buddhist remnants at Bamyan were included on the 2008 World Monuments Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites by the World Monuments Fund. In 2013, the foot section of the smaller Buddha was rebuilt with iron rods, bricks and concrete by the German branch of ICOMOS. Further constructions were halted by order of UNESCO, on the grounds that the work was conducted without the organisation's knowledge or approval. The effort was contrary to UNESCO's policy of using original material for reconstructions, and it has been pointed out that it was done based on assumptions. In 2015, a wealthy Chinese couple, Janson Hu and Liyan Yu, financed the creation of a 3D light projection of an artist's view of what the larger Buddha, known as Solsol to locals, might have looked like in its prime. The image was beamed into the niche one night in 2015; later the couple donated their $120,000 projector to the culture ministry. Shortly after the 2021 Taliban offensive that saw the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the return of Taliban to the government, tourists were again granted permission to visit the site. While the Taliban promised to preserve the Bamyan valley, preservation work was ceased indefinitely. UNESCO's Afghan operations were stymied, largely due to foreign investors' fears that continued support of cultural preservation projects in the country would run afoul of international sanctions. In February 2023, UNESCO's restoration work resumed when the Italian government approved new funding. ==Restoration==

The UNESCO Expert Working Group on Afghan cultural projects convened to discuss what to do about the two statues between 3 and 4 March 2011 in Paris. Researcher Erwin Emmerling of Technical University of Munich announced he believed it would be possible to restore the smaller statue using an organic silicon compound. The Paris conference issued a list of 39 recommendations for the safeguarding of the Bamyan site. These included leaving the larger Western niche empty as a monument to the destruction of the Buddhas, a feasibility study into the rebuilding of the Eastern Buddha, and the construction of a central museum and several smaller site museums. Work has since begun on restoring the Buddhas using the process of anastylosis, where original elements are combined with modern material. It is estimated that roughly half the pieces of the Buddhas can be put back together according to Bert Praxenthaler, a German art historian and sculptor involved in the restoration. The restoration of the caves and Buddhas has also involved training and employing local people as stone carvers. The project, which also aims to encourage tourism to the area, is being organised by UNESCO and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). The work has come under some criticism. It is felt by some, such as human rights activist Abdullah Hamadi, that the empty niches should be left as monuments to the fanaticism of the Taliban, while others believe the money could be better spent on housing and electricity for the region. Some people, including Habiba Sarabi, the provincial governor, believe that rebuilding the Buddhas would increase tourism, which would aid the surrounding communities. Replicas The destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan inspired attempts to construct replicas of the Bamyan Buddhas. These include the following. • In 2001 in China, carving of a high Buddha was initiated in Sichuan, which is the same height as the smaller of the two Bamiyan Buddhas. It was funded by a Chinese businessman, Liang Simian. The project appears to have been given up for unknown reasons. • In Sri Lanka, a full-scale replica has been created, which is now known as the Tsunami Honganji Viharaya at Pareliya. It is dedicated to the victims of the 2005 tsunami in the presence of Mahinda Rajapaksha. It was funded by Japan's Hongan-ji Temple of Kyoto and was inaugurated in 2006. • An stone Buddha was inaugurated at Sarnath in India in 2011. It stands within the Thai Buddhist Vihara. == Gallery ==

Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley-109152.jpg|Taller Buddha, after destruction Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley-109154.jpg|Smaller Buddha, after destruction Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley-130348.jpg|View of the rock where monasteries and Buddhas are carved Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley-109157.jpg|The landscape of the archaeological Remains of the Bamyan Valley ==In popular culture==

Despite the Buddhas's destruction, the ruins continue to be a popular culture landmark, bolstered by increasing domestic and international tourism to the Bamyan Valley. The area around the ruins has since been used for the traditional game of buzkashi, and other events. The music video of pop singer Aryana Sayeed's hit 2015 song "Yaar-e Bamyani" was also shot by the ruins. The statues inspired Islamic writers in historical times. The larger statue appears as the malevolent giant Salsal in medieval Turkish tales. In June 1971, Empress Michiko of Japan visited the Buddhas during an Imperial state visit to the Kingdom of Afghanistan with her husband. Upon her return to Japan, she composed a waka poem. A 2012 novel by Rajesh Talwar titled An Afghan Winter provides a fictional backdrop to the destruction of the Buddhas and its impact on the global Buddhist community. 2012 first person shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops II features the Buddhas of Bamiyan in the opening of the campaign mission Old Wounds, set in 1986 during the Soviet–Afghan War. They are also the mission's menu picture. The 2022 Indian film Ram Setu shows the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan and an archaeological team's subsequent attempts to salvage the remains where they discover a fictional treasure belonging to Raja Dahir and a colossal reclining Buddha (which has been described in the writings of Xuanzang but has not actually been discovered). The AD 507 chapter of 2020 novel A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom by John Boyne writes an imaginary account of how the Buddhas were commissioned and built. ==See also==