The Buddhas of Bamiyan Location Buddhism The statues Destruction Reconstruction Animations Links

Buddhism is not really a religion per se. It is a way of life. Buddhists do not worship the Buddha's image. They only pay respect to it in recognition of his teachings of peace and self-liberation. Practicing Buddhism is very simple. In the first year, the image of the Buddha is in front of you. In the second year of practice, the Buddha will be at your side, guiding you spiritually. And lastly when the time comes, the Buddha will be in your heart forever. One does not need an image of the Buddha to be physically present in order to practice Buddhism. Buddha is in all of us and it is up to us to realize its presence. Buddhism in Bamiyan The Buddhist art of the Hindu Kush mountain region, where the Bamiyan Valley is located, represents the final flowering of Buddhism in Afghanistan. The kingdom of Bamiyan was a Buddhist state positioned at a strategic location along the trade routes that for centuries linked China and Central Asia with India and the west. Bamiyan served as an important monastic and spiritual center, as well as a hub of intense commercial activity. The site was constructed between approximately the fifth and ninth centuries A.D. during a distinctive phase in the history of Buddhist art, a period of intense cultural and religious exchanges between east and west, and a time of great cultural change within Buddhism itself. Bamiyan served as a ceremonial and spiritual center that attracted and comforted crowds of pilgrims and merchants traveling between Central and South Asia. Buddhism was introduced into this area in the third century B.C. by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka. It found fertile soil in the former Gandhara province (nowadays, East Afghanistan and North Pakistan) around the first and second centuries A.D. under the rule of the great Kushan ruler Kanishka. At that time, Afghanistan lay at the heart of the Silk Route and everybody travelling over land from East to West had no option to journey through it. Along its roads passed silk from China, delicate glassware from Alexandria, bronze statues from Rome and beautifully decorated ivories from India. These kinds of objects have been excavated in Afghanistan. In the early centuries of the Christian era, Eastern Afghanistan was full of lively Buddhist monasteries, stupas and monks. In this rich and peaceful climate, a new art form emerged: the art of Gandhara, bearing the same name as the province in which it appeared. During this period, the earliest Buddha images in human form also evolved in this Kushan/Saka area. Other monumental Buddhas Photo gallery of Buddhas images A Bayon Temple in Angkor, Cambodia Big Buddha in Lantau, China

Last modified 15/03/02 by fabio@geod.baug.ethz.ch