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Bamiyan Buddhas
Buddha of Bamiyan

The Bamiyan Buddhas, which were once magnificent works of spirituality and old art, now stand as sad reminders of a vanished civilization. Before the destruction of buddha in Afghanistan, [1] the sixth and seventh century Buddhas sculpture in Bamiyan valley central Afghanistan were considered the largest in the world. It is known by the name of Buddhas of Bamiyan and it was the center of tourism in Afghanistan for a millennium. It is unknown who sculpted or who commissioned to build this piece of Art, but what is known is the importance of Buddhism Art at the time in the area. "The two colossal Bamiyan Buddhas stood as arguably the most important archaeological site in Afghanistan for well over a thousand years." (kallie Szczepanski). [2] 

Monumental Buddhas

Before their destruction in 2001. On the mountainside facing the Bamiyan Valley, there were two Buddha sculptures, [3] the tallest, of which, on the west side, stood 175 feet tall and displayed the Buddha Vairochana. [4] The smaller one, which stood 120 feet tall and had Buddha Shakyamuni, was on the east side. The two enormous Buddha statues showed the multicultural nature of the Bamiyan valley and were influenced by India [5]art and culture. For instance, both Buddhas were shown as having wavy curls of hair and wearing flowing robes, which are Indian historical themes. 

Heavenly Deities
Bamiyan Buddha's- Grotto painting. There are numerous grottos positioned by the Buddha's which were destroyed by the Taliban.

Most of the information that we have from the past comes from Xuazang (Hsuan-Tsang) [6]who traveled to Bamiyan in 643. He documented his travels in a book named (Da Tang Xiyu Ji) [7] and he gives us very good information about the buddhas. He wrote, "when traveling merchants see heavenly deities, whether indicating good fortune or tragedy, they admire the deities and ask for blessings. Thousands of monks [8] practice the Hinayana rules [9] of the Lokottaravada school [10] in different monasteries. In the mountains to the northeast of the city, there is a standing Buddha statue made of rock that is 140-150 feet tall, dazzling golden in color, and set with amazing diamonds. [11] An earlier king of the area built a monastery to the east. A more than 100-foot-tall copper statue of the Buddha is located to the east of the monastery" It was cast in separate pieces and then joined together into shape." (Dr. melody Rod-ari). [12] 

 Destruction of the Buddhas
Buddha's sculpture

The leader of Taliban [13] Mulla Omar [14] ordered his soldiers to destroy the Buddhas in March 2001. The used every kind of bombs, rockets, and weapon that they had to destroy the Buddhas. Still, the reason behind destroying the Buddhas is unclear. The Buddhas of Bamiyan was an important cultural piece of art and it was safe for more than a thousand years under Islam rulers.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ https://www.britannica.com/place/Afghanistan
  2. ^ Kallie Szczepanski
  3. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/arts/design/buddhist-art-india-metropolitan-met.html
  4. ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vairocana
  5. ^ https://www.britannica.com/place/India
  6. ^ https://iep.utm.edu/xuanzang/
  7. ^ https://www.britannica.com/topic/Datang-Xiyu-Ji
  8. ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk
  9. ^ https://viewonbuddhism.org/vehicles.html
  10. ^ http://tibetanbuddhistencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=Lokottara-v%C4%81da
  11. ^ https://www.britannica.com/topic/diamond-gemstone
  12. ^ Dr. Melody Rod-ari
  13. ^ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11451718
  14. ^ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33703097 
References

Szczepanski, K. (2018). The History of Afghanistan's Bamiyan Buddhas. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-bamiyan-buddhas-195108 Bamiyan Buddhas. (n.d.). Whose Culture? https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/whoseculture/bamiyan-buddhas Rod-ari, M. (n.d). Bamiyan Buddhas. Khan Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/west-and-central-asia-apahh/central-asia/a/bamiyan-buddhas Nagaoka, Masanori, and Masanori. Nagaoka. The Future of the Bamiyan Buddha Statues Heritage Reconstruction in Theory and Practice. Edited by Masanori. Nagaoka, 1st ed. 2020., Springer Nature, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51316-0. Lluveras-Tenorio, Anna, et al. “GC/MS and Proteomics to Unravel the Painting History of the Lost Giant Buddhas of Bāmiyān (Afghanistan).” PloS One, vol. 12, no. 4, 2017, pp. e0172990–e0172990, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0172990.

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