Buddhas of Bamiyan

The Buddhas of Bamiyan (Pashto: د باميانو بودايي پژۍ, Dari: تندیس‌های بودا در بامیان) were two monumental Buddhist reliefs in the Bamiyan Valley of Afghanistan, carved possibly around the 6th-century. Located 130 kilometres (81 mi) to the northwest of Kabul, at an elevation of 2,500 metres (8,200 ft), carbon dating of the structural components of the Buddhas has determined the smaller 38 m (125 ft) "Eastern Buddha" was built around 570 CE, and the larger 55 m (180 ft) "Western Buddha" was built around 618 CE, which would date both to the time when the Hephthalites ruled the region.

In March 2001, both structures were destroyed by the Taliban following an order given on February 26, 2001, by Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, to destroy all the statues in Afghanistan "so no one can worship or respect them in the future". International and local opinion condemned the destruction of the Buddhas.

Inscribed in 2003 as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Buddhas are recognized as an outstanding expression of Gandharan Buddhism.

The sculptures represented a later evolution of the classic blended style of Greco-Buddhist art at Gandhara. The larger structure was named "Salsal" ("the light shines through the universe") and was referred as a male. The smaller relief is called "Shah Mama" ("Queen Mother") and is considered as a female figure, but this cannot be said with certainty. The smaller statue predated the larger one. Technically, both were reliefs: at the rear, they each merged into the cliff wall. The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modeled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. This coating, the majority of which wore away long ago, was painted to enhance the expressions of the faces, hands, and folds of the robes; the larger one was painted carmine red, and the smaller one was painted multiple colours. The lower parts of the sculptures' arms were constructed from the same mud-straw mix, supported on wooden armatures. Current research indicates the upper parts of their faces consisted of huge wooden masks.

Since the 2nd century CE, Bamiyan had been a Buddhist religious site on the Silk Road under the Kushans, remaining so until the Islamic conquests of 770 CE, and finally coming under the Turkic Ghaznavid rule in 977 CE. In 1221, Genghis Khan during the Siege of Bamyan invaded the Bamiyan Valley, wiping out most of its population but leaving the Bamiyan Buddhas undamaged. Later in the 17th century, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb briefly ordered the use of artillery to destroy the carvings, causing some damage, though the Buddhas survived without any major harm.

The Buddhas were surrounded by numerous caves, the walls of which were decorated with paintings made during the 6th to 8th centuries CE. Archeological evidence suggests the cave painting ended after the Muslim conquests of Afghanistan. The smaller works of art are considered to be an artistic synthesis of Buddhist art and Gupta art from ancient India, with influences from the Sasanian Empire and the Byzantine Empire, as well as the Pokhara Yabghus.