Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan

The Buddhas of Bamiyan (Persian: بت های باميان – bothā-ye Bāmiyān) were in 4th and 5th-centuries monumental statues of standing buddha carved into the side of a cliff in theBamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan. Built in 507 AD (smaller) and 554 AD (larger), the statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art.

The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modeled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. This coating, practically all of which wore away long ago, was painted to enhance the expressions of the faces, hands, and folds of the robes; the larger one was painted carmine red and the smaller one was painted multiple colors. The enormous statues, the male Salsal ("light shines through the universe") and the (smaller) female Shamama ("Queen Mother"), as they were called by the locals. 

In 1221 with the advent of Genghis Khan "a terrible disaster befell Bamiyan",nevertheless, the statues were spared. Later, the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, tried to use heavy artillery to destroy the statues. Another attempt to destroy the Bamiyan statues was made by the 18th century Persian king Nader Afshar, directing cannon fire at them. Shia Hazara rebellion. 

In March 2001, the statues were destroyed by the Taliban of Mullah Omar following a decree issued by him. The Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar explained why he ordered the statues to be destroyed in an interview:

I did not want to destroy the Bamiyan Buddha. In fact, some foreigners came to me and said they would like to conduct the repair work of the Bamiyan Buddha that had been slightly damaged due to rains. This shocked me. I thought, these callous people have no regard for thousands of living human beings -- the Afghans who are dying of hunger, but they are so concerned about non-living objects like the Buddha. This was extremely deplorable. That is why I ordered its destruction. Had they come for humanitarian work, I would have never ordered the Buddha's destruction.

Destruction of the site by the Taliban

Taller Buddha in 1963 and in 2008 after destruction

Drawing of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by Alexander Burnes 1832

The taller of the two Buddhas of Bamiyan in 1976

Smaller Buddha in 1977

Site of the larger statue after it was destroyed

Photo Source: Collected from Internet