Grotta di Buddha in scogliera dove IV e V secolo maschio statua di Buddha è stata distrutta dai talebani nel 2001, Bamyan, nella provincia di Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan
5568 x 3712 px | 47,1 x 31,4 cm | 18,6 x 12,4 inches | 300dpi
Data acquisizione:
2 gennaio 2018
Ubicazione:
Bamyan, Bamyan Province, Afghanistan
Altre informazioni:
Located in the central highlands of Afghanistan, with a mountainous or semi-mountainous terrain, Bamyan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, Bamyan (or Bamiyan or Bamian) is the capital of the Province. At an altitude of about 2, 550 m and with a population of 100, 000, it is the largest town in the central Afghanistan region of Hazarajat. Many statues of Buddha are carved into the sides of cliffs north of Bamyan city. The Bamiyan valley marked the most westerly point of Buddhist expansion and was a crucial hub of trade for much of the second millennium AD. It was a place where East met West and its archaeology reveals a combination of Greek, Turkic, Persian, Chinese and Indian influence. One can find numerous caves amongst which two caves uses to contain the two large Buddha caves containing a female Buddha statue and an even larger male Buddha statue. In March 2001, the statues were destroyed by the Taliban of Mullah Omar following a decree issued by him. The Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar explained why he ordered the statues to be destroyed in an interview: “I did not want to destroy the Bamyan Buddha. In fact, some foreigners came to me and said they would like to conduct the repair work of the Bamyan Buddha that had been slightly damaged due to rains. This shocked me. I thought, these callous people have no regard for thousands of living human beings - the Afghans who are dying of hunger, but they are so concerned about non-living objects like the Buddha. This was extremely deplorable. That is why I ordered its destruction. Had they come for humanitarian work, I would have never ordered the Buddha's destruction.” Information and Culture Minister Qadratullah Jamal told Associated Press of a decision by 400 religious clerics from across Afghanistan declaring the Buddhist statues against the tenets of Islam. "They came out with a consensus that the statues were against Islam".
