10 years later, Afghanistan rebuilding Buddha statues

Missing buddha

Where one of the Buddhas used to be. Photo: Tracy Hunter

But is it a good idea?

DID YOU KNOW that the two largest Buddha carvings in the world were located in Afghanistan? They were carved in sandstone cliffs in the Bamiyan Valley. The statues one at 180 feet high and the other at 120 feet high had been around since the 6th century.

When the Taliban was running the show, they wanted to get rid of anything that wasnt Islamic. These statues were high on their list and in 2001 they blew them up. They blew them up real good. Today, several teams are involved in piecing the statues back together, using an archaeological technique called anastylosis.

They will combine original material for which about 50% remain with modern material. The Parthenon in Athens was rebuilt using the same process.

Not everyone is excited about the idea though. Abdullah Hamadi says that where the Buddhas once stood is now a historical place to remember what the Taliban did. The Buddha was destroyed. If you made it, rebuilt it, that is not the history. The history is the broken Buddha, he said. Those opposed to the restoration would rather see the money going toward things like housing and electricity.

I agree.


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