Taliban militants spent the early part of March 2001 systematically dynamiting two of Afghanistan's greatest historical and cultural treasures: the Buddhas of Bamiyan. The massive statues were carved into a cliff in central Afghanistan between the sixth and seventh centuries. Twenty years after their destruction, we look back at these iconic artefacts and how the site looks today.
The Buddhas Of Bamiyan: Majesty And Tragedy
- By RFE/RL
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The statue, known as Solsol or the Western Buddha, stood more than 50 meters tall. This photo was taken on November 28, 1997.
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The smaller 38-meter statue, known as the Eastern Buddha.
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Dynamite charges set by the Taliban destroy one of the Buddhas in March 2001. The Islamic militants had declared the statues to be "false idols" under their interpretation of Islamic law.
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The empty space where a Buddha statue once stood in Bamiyan as it appeared in February 2021.
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A photo of the archaeological site at Bamiyan, which was taken in May 1968 during an official visit by French Prime Minister Georges Pompidou.
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A photo from 1970.
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The site of the Bamiyan Buddhas on December 7, 1997.
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An explosion rips apart one of the Buddhas in March 2001.
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Taliban militants stand amid the rubble of the destroyed treasures on March 26, 2001.
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The Bamiyan Valley in 2005.
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November 2009
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Shattered pieces of the Buddha statues at a UNESCO storage site in Bamiyan Province in November 2016. There has been talk over the years of restoring the statues.
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Researchers have discovered that some of the murals on the walls behind where the statues once stood were created using oil-based paints as early as the mid-7th century. Photo from February 2021.
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Boys play cricket at the site in February 2021.
