Hazaragi cap, the Hazara Yadgar logoHazara Yadgar

Destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan

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In March 2001, the Taliban destroyed the two giant Buddhas carved into the cliffs of Bamiyan, in the heart of the Hazara homeland.

Two monumental Buddhas stood in the cliffs above Bamyan, about 55 and 38 metres tall. Carbon dating places them in the 6th and 7th centuries.1

In 2001 the Taliban declared the statues idols and, on the orders of their leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, dynamited them.2 Experts have since warned that construction, negligence and looting threaten what remains.3

In 2003 UNESCO inscribed the Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley on the World Heritage List.2

The Buddhas are not a Hazara creation, as they predate the Hazaras by centuries. But Hazaras have lived beside them and looked after their memory. Please add local accounts.

Footnotes

  1. Wikipedia, Buddhas of Bamiyan. ↩

  2. New World Encyclopedia, Buddhas of Bamyan. ↩ ↩2

  3. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Fears for the future of Bamiyan's Buddha site, 2023. ↩