The last secret of the Bamiyan Buddhas (10 photos)

In the sheer wall of a sandstone mountain looming over the ancient Silk Road near the Afghan city of Bamiyan, two gigantic niches gape.





These are all that remain of the monumental Buddha statues that stood here for nearly 15 centuries. In 2001, the Taliban reduced them to dust. This act of vandalism shocked the planet.



Buddhism has long played a key role in the life of Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. It reached there as early as the first century CE, during the early Kushan period. Along the Silk Road, where Bamiyan stands, one can still find Buddhist monasteries, chapels, and shrines carved directly into the mountains. Fragments of wall paintings and figures of seated Buddhas have survived in numerous grottoes and niches connected by galleries.





The complex's main treasures were undoubtedly two gigantic statues, destroyed in 2001. The larger of the two stood 53 meters tall, making it one of the largest standing Buddhas in the world. The second colossus, though smaller, still staggered the imagination at 38 meters.



The taller of the two Bamiyan Buddhas in 1976

Both monuments were carved directly into the rock and were high reliefs. The base was carved from sandstone, while the details—the facial features and folds of the robes—were made of clay and straw and covered with plaster. This coating has almost disappeared by now, but in ancient times it gave the statues a surprisingly realistic and vibrant appearance.



The smaller Buddha in 1977

Originally, both figures were brightly painted: the large Buddha glowed crimson, while the small Buddha shimmered with a multitude of colors. The space around the heads and feet was designed so that pilgrims could circumambulate the statues, following an ancient ritual.



Xuanzang – Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, philosopher, traveler, and translator during the Tang Dynasty

Most of our information about the Bamiyan colossi comes from the Chinese monk Xuanzang, who visited the site in the 7th century. He described Bamiyan as a thriving center of faith, home to more than a dozen monasteries and a thousand monks. The pilgrim mentioned that both statues were adorned with precious stones and glittered with gold. Modern historians believe they were created between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD. For centuries, they remained the region's main attraction, attracting believers from all over the world.



With the advent of Islam in the 9th century, the presence of such a large Buddhist symbol began to irritate the new rulers of Afghanistan. In the 17th century, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, followed by the Persian Shah Nader Afshar in the 18th century, attempted to crush the giants with cannons, but failed to cause serious damage. Only the Afghan emir Abdur Rahman managed to mutilate the face of one of the Buddhas.



The site of the larger statue after its destruction

In 2001, the leader of the Taliban issued a decree ordering the total destruction of all non-Islamic shrines and statues. In March of that year, militants planted explosives at the bases and on the shoulders of the giants and detonated them.



The Lesser Buddha after the Destruction

The only consolation after this tragedy was that, while clearing the rubble, archaeologists discovered several previously unknown caves and frescoes, as well as fragments of a huge, almost 20-meter-tall reclining Buddha, the existence of which no one had suspected.