BAMIYAN BUDDHA Indian Culture

Indian Culture

The Taliban leadership in Afghanistan guaranteed the world that it would maintain and conserve
Mes Aynak’s Buddhist legacy.

 More info:

  •    Several Buddhist-related antique sculptural and architectural masterpieces were destroyed by the Taliban administration in Mes Aynak (2001).
  • When the Taliban dictatorship retook power, many people were understandably concerned.
  • The dictatorship, on the other hand, has guaranteed the world that it will preserve the varied
  • Buddhist history.
  • One of the main reasons for this is to assure investment in the country, as the administration has been experiencing economic difficulties since taking power.

 The Buddhas of Bamiyan:

  • The Bamiyan valley, located in the Hindu Kush mountains along the Bamiyan River, was an important node of the early Silk Routes, serving as a crossroads for both commercial and cultural interchange.
  • The Bamiyan Buddha statues, carved out of sandstone cliffs, are thought to date from the 5th
  • century AD and were formerly the world’s tallest standing Buddhas.
  • The creative styles of the Gupta, Sassanian, and Hellenistic periods were perfectly blended in
  • these statues.
  • In 2001, the Taliban administration demolished Salsal and Shamana (two of the region’s tallest Buddha sculptures), as the locals termed them.
  • The remains of the Bamiyan Buddhas were added to UNESCO’s list of world historic monuments
  • in 2003.


No. Topic Name Prelims/Mains

  1. BAMIYAN BUDDHA Prelims & Mains
  2. HINDU NEW YEAR FESTIVAL Prelims & Mains
  3. WITHDRAWAL OF AFSPA Prelims & Mains
  4. VANNIYARS COMMUNITY Prelims & Mains

     The statue of Salsal was “recreated” – a 3D projection was beamed at the alcove where it had
    stood — on March 9, 2021, to commemorate 20 years since their destruction.
     Source  The Hindu

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