Bamian Buddha Statue in Afghan Will Resurrected

The largest rock cliff Buddha statue, Bamian Buddha Statue that was destroyed by the Taliban regime, will be resurrected.

The Cultural Heritage destroyed by the Taliban regime under the cloak of iconoclasm in March last year will be restored by the interim Afghan government. The Culture Minster of Afghanistan announced on Dec 30th its plan to restore the world largest Buddha statues, which are 53 m and 37 m high.

The interim government will set up a detail plan for the restoration by May this year and will sell miniatures of 1/10 scale to raise the fund for the restoration. The Afghan government is also expecting aid from Buddhist countries including China and Japan.

UNESCO carried out a precise examination on the destroyed site for 15 days last month for the restoration of the gigantic Buddha statues, which are priceless as humanity`s cultural heritage.

The investigation revealed in detail the destruction wrought by the Taliban.

The Taliban invited experts to the rock destruction site from Bangladesh and Sudan and destroyed the Buddha statues thoroughly for 4 days. And the debris of the destroyed Buddha statues were smuggled out to Pakistan and Japan.

According to the report of MSNBC.com, the statue was destroyed by the order of the Taliban leader Muhammad Omar while most Afghanistan people including the local director of the Culture Bureau were opposed to the destruction.

The two Bamian Buddha Statues had been appreciated as priceless cultural heritage, which were archaeologically very significant masterpieces erected during the Kushan Dynasty in 2-5 century CE under the influence of Hellenism. The Buddhist practitioners had gathered together to listen to the mysterious voices of the Buddhist sermon during the 6-7 centuries when Buddhism flourished in Afghanistan. The worshippers in front of the Statues were overwhelmed by the numinous voices flowing out through the nostrils over 50 m high.

Jong-Dae Ha orionha@donga.com