Bamiyan Buddhas of Afghanistan: The history of destruction and resurrection

In March 2001, the Taliban began blowing up two massive Buddha statues in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley. Once counted among the tallest statues in the world, the ancient Bamiyan Buddhas were lost forever, reduced to dust through Taliban bombardment. Two decades later, on the anniversary of the destruction, the Bamiyan Buddhas again came back to life in the form of 3D projections, in an event called A Night With Buddha.  

The history of the Bamiyan Buddhas 
The Bamiyan Buddhas are said to date back to the 5th century AD, and were once the tallest standing Buddha statues of the world. They were set in niches on either ends of a sandstone cliff, carved out of the mountain. Wearing the signature draperies of the Buddha and with two different mudras, the Bamiyan Buddhas were a result of a mix of Gupta, Sassanian and Hellenistic artistic styles. Local Afghans called them Salsal and Shamama, i.e. ‘light of the universe’ and ‘Queen Mother’, as one statue was male and the other female.   

Taliban destruction of the Buddhas 
The extremist Taliban movement emerged in the early 1990s, and are known everywhere for their own interpretation of Islamic Law, where they initiate a lot of killing and destruction in the name of religion. On February 27, 2001, the Taliban publicly declared its intention to destroy the statues, despite condemnation and protest from all over the world. Even Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf voiced his concern against it. However, the Taliban were determined, and the Buddhas were destroyed. It took over a month of bombardment to blow them up completely.   

Resurrection of the Salsal Buddha, virtually 
“A Night with Buddha” started in 2013 as a way of creating a bridge between current times and Afghanistan’s pre-Islamic heritage. This year a festival featured the full-length 3D projection of the Salsal statue. Held amidst tight security, the event was attended by several locals with lanterns, accompanied by dancing. This was definitely a positive move in war torn Afghanistan. It’s all the more important, as Buddha himself was strongly anti-war though he was born the prince of a Himalayan kingdom.