Bodhisattvas and Deities on the West wall of the Ceiling
Cave 620
Bamiyan, Afghanistan
8th – 9th century A.C.E.   
DESTROYED BY TALIBAN IN MARCH 2001

The loss or destruction of art can mainly be attributed to one of the two factors: destruction during military expeditions or socio-political conflicts, and secondly as a result of disagreement with the philosophy behind the work itself. It was this second factor that decided the fate of the 7th century colossal sculptures of the Buddhas of Bamiyan, destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 on account of being non-Islami artworks.

Little was internationally known about the Bamiyan and its gigantic Buddhas who, before 2001, stood in a broad, hard to reach valley, flanked by high stone cliffs for over 1500 years. Even less known is the fact that, along with the Buddhas, many exquisite murals painted in the nearby caves faced the same fate as the sculptures. Though some documentation of the statues of Buddhas remains in the forms of writings and photographs, no efforts were made to document the remains of these beautiful paintings before their destruction.

Bamiyan was strategically located on the silk route linking the markets of China with that of India, Central Asia, Middle East and Europe. After Buddhism was first introduced in the region by King

Asoka in as early as the 3rd century BC, Bamiyan became a prominent Buddhist center with numerous Buddhist and Hindu monasteries under the patronage of Kushan’s dynasty. Two Chinese pilgrims Fa-Hein and Hsüan Tsang who visited Bamiyan in 400 A.C.E. and 630 A.C.E. respectively give detailed accounts of thousands of monks inhabiting the rock cut caves that were situated around the statues. It is in these caves that most the elaborate Buddhist mural paintings were done.

Though the destroyed Buddhas had an unmistakable influence of the Gandharan school of art that developed under the Kushan period, the fragments of a few remaining mural paintings from the neighboring caves that were recently discovered by Japanese researchers show a definite resemblance to those found in caves of Bagh and Ajanta in India. It was from these cave paintings from the 2nd century B.C.E. to 6th century A.C.E. from central India that the tradition of Buddhist wall paintings traveled across Asia – in the south to Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand; in north to Tibet, China and Japan; and west to Afghanistan. 

Before their recent destruction in Afghanistan, the two colossal statues of Buddha and cave paintings had withstood the test of nature and man for over 1500 years. They were evidence of the splendor of history, the devotion of pilgrims, and were among the greatest examples of the evolution of artistic influences, as diverse as Achaemenian, Indian and Hellenistic.

Bamiyan was the scene of the most visible outrage of the Taliban. With the destruction of the statues and paintings of the Bamiyan, along with countless artifacts from the museums in Afghanistan, the strong link between the Buddhist traditions of Asia has been lost and can never be restored again. The damage is beyond repair - a loss that will be mourned by the generations to come.