Afghanistan: Rebuilding the Bamiyan Buddhas

They were built more than 1,700 years ago and destroyed in just a few days by religious fanatics: the Bamiyan Buddhas were once considered wonders of the ancient world but the Taliban regarded them as affronts to their religious sensibilities. Now, some are wondering whether they can be rebuilt.

The New Zealand Herald reports:

Some experts believe the gaping Buddha-shaped holes should be left, a monument to the barbarity of the Taleban. Others argue that two wonders of the ancient world can be recreated from the rubble. Meanwhile, hare-brained schemes abound. A former warlord threatens to reconstruct them in concrete. A shadowy Japanese billionaire is said to have a rebuilding plan. An Italian sculptor wants to carve them anew further along in the cliff. Another artist wants to recreate them in polystyrene.

Last year Professor Armin Gruen from Zurich created a virtual dummy of the main statue, a model for rebuilding its 55m height. He believed it was smashed into around 4000 fragments, and estimated reconstruction would cost around $47 million. If resurrection is agreed, the Buddhas will be rebuilt to resemble the way they were in 2001 - already battered over the centuries, with legs missing through earthquake damage and faces destroyed, perhaps by early Muslim iconoclasts.

What’s especially interesting is that much of the most intense pressure to do something is not coming from foreign experts but, rather, the people who live in that region. They want the Buddhas rebuilt very much — both because of it’s place in their heritage and because of the promise of tourists coming to visit. If the experts don’t agree on something soon, they might take things into their own hands. They are the ones looking to make concrete replicas.

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• Islam
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• The Taliban
• Religion in Afghanistan