Buddhas of Bamiyan - Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Buddhas of Bamiyan - Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th-century monumental Buddhist statues in the Bamiyan Valley of Afghanistan. Located to the northwest of Kabul, at an elevation of , carbon dating of the structural components of the Buddhas has determined that the smaller "Eastern Buddha" was built around 570 CE, and the larger "Western Buddha" was built around 618 CE, which would date both to the time when the Hephthalites ruled the region.Eastern Buddha: 549–579 CE (1 σ range, 68.2% probability) 544–595 CE (2 σ range, 95.4% probability). Western Buddha: 605–633 CE (1 σ range, 68.2%) 591–644 CE (2 σ range, 95.4% probability). In Blänsdorf et al. (2009). As a UNESCO World Heritage Site of historical Afghan Buddhism, it was a holy site for Buddhists on the Silk Road. However, in March 2001, both statues were destroyed by the Taliban following an order from their leader Mullah Muhammad Omar; the Taliban government of the Islamic Emirate had condemned the Bamiyan Buddhas as idols, invoking the Muslim concept of shirk. International and local opinion strongly condemned the destruction of the Buddhas. Read more on Wikipedia
Source: en.wikipedia.org