Asian Current

Bamiyan - is it Gone Forever?

The answer probably is no. Though it is a stupendous work to reconstruct the colossal monuments, help nevertheless, is pouring in from various parts of the world.

Nearly one thousand seven hundred years ago, two large standing Buddha statues were carved out of the sedimentary rocks in the valley of Bamiyan in Afghanistan. These immense sculptures were as high as 53m and 38m, the larger one believed to be the tallest representation of a standing Buddha in the world. When in 1996, the Taliban rose to power in Afghanistan, it started indulging in systematic destruction of Afghan art and cultural images and icons, that were deemed to be in violation of the tenets of Islam, to them.

However, when the Talibans expressed their desire to destroy Afghanistan’s priceless and monumental sculptures, the Buddha statues carved into the Hindu Kush mountain range in Bamiyan, the whole world went against it. A senior political leader ruefully commented that the proposed action, if carried out, may tantamount to India’s decision to destroy the Taj Mahal on similar but opposite grounds. Directors of world-renowned museums begged for the statues to be kept for the sake of posterity. The United Nations sent special envoys to Afghanistan to prevent the vandalistic attitude of the Talibans towards such priceless examples of world heritage.

Incidentally, the Chinese traveler Hiuan Tsang first reported the statues in 632 describing the larger Buddha as ‘glittering with gold and precious ornaments. Both the statues combined classical Indian and Central Asian symmetry and poise. Their faces were modeled on that of the Greek god Apollo while the bodies were clothed in Greek robes’. The carvings survived myriad invasions and wars, ravages of time and were a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists world over. They were also one of the wonders of the ancient world. Despite protests from people, governments, political parties and national leaders, Taliban militia destroyed the Bamiyan Buddha’s before U.S toppled them in the Afghan battle.

Recovering from the after effects of the vandalism unleashed by the Talibans, amateurs and professionals from across the world has offered their services to reconstruct the statues in right earnest. Afghan sculptor, Amannulah Haiderzad returned to Afghanistan in April 2002 after a 23-year exile to lead a reconstruction project of the Bamiyan Buddha’s. The Japanese artist Hiro Yamagata in November 2005 declared a $60 million project to create the Bamiyan Buddha’s with Laser beams and computer-aided equipment.

Later, a group from ETH Zurich completed computer reconstruction of the Bamiyan Buddha’s that may serve as the basis for a physical reconstruction. Results of the image-based 3D reconstruction of the statues, performed on three different data-sets in parallel and using different photogrammetric techniques and algorithms is currently being viewed with interest by the United Nations World Heritage Site chapter.

Hopefully, sometime soon, the Hindu Kush would again be alive with people singing in praise of Lord Buddha and his eternal teachings.