Bamiyan Valley

Bamiyan Valley
Photo in the Public Domain.

The Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley is an outstanding representation of Gandharan Buddhist art and culture in Central Asia.

The kingdom of Bamiyan was a Buddhist state that was strategically located on the Silk Road and was an important centre of pilgrimage. The site consists of eight components, including caves with painted decorations and Buddha statues carved into the cliffs. The cliffs held two standing Buddhas, measuring 55 and 37 meters high respectively, that were the largest examples of standing Buddha carvings in the world.  They were deliberately destructed in March 2001 by the Afghan Taliban government and only the niches remain.

Community Perspective: Sidney visited in 1971 and witnessed a spectacular sunset on the Buddha statues. Noone since has reviewed it, although Bamiyan is usually part of Afghanistan travel itineraries.

8 Locations 1 Reviews 5 Ratings 29 Connections 11 Visitors In Danger

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sidney

USA -

It was not exactly a day more like a 2 week experience in 1971. The most amazing place on my journey East. I had the good fortune to sit on the Giant Buddhas head and meditate and watch the sun rise over the Hindu Kush and watch those mountain peaks turn a color red that I had never seen in my life. The sunset on the buddha was just as spectacular. Lost to us forever by forces from hell. I also had the good fortune to ride horses over the fiords of Band I Amir lakes. I will never forget my trip to Bamiyan, I cried when I saw the destruction of the Buddha, I cried for all our loss but most of all for Hazra people who no longer have the magic of the Buddha. Sidney

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Site Info

Full Name
Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley
Unesco ID
208
Country
Afghanistan
Inscribed
2003 - In Danger
Type
Cultural
Criteria
1 2 3 4 6
Categories
Cultural Landscape - Relict Religious structure - Buddhist
Link
By ID

Site History

2003 In Danger

"suffered from abandonment, military action and dynamite explosions. Parts of the site are inaccessible due to the presence of antipersonnel mines."

2003 Inscribed

1983 Deferred

Deferred as conditions under which recommendation made not yet fulfilled

Site Links

Unesco Website
Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley
Official Website

Visit Bamiyan

Related

BBC news

In the News

Italy throws Afghanistan a lifeline for restoration in the Bamiyan area (2023.04.22)

Taliban orders coal traders to leave Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley (2022.04.27)

A Rogue Taliban Governor Has Been Digging Beneath the Ruins of the Bamiyan Buddhas, Chasing a Rumor of Buried Treasure (2022.02.09)

The Taliban destroyed Afghanistan’s ancient Buddha statues. Now they’re welcoming tourists. (2021.11.25)

Video Shows Taliban Using Remnants Of Bamiyan Buddhas For Target Practice (2021.11.11)

Bamiyan artifacts pillaged amid Afghan turmoil (2021.09.14)

Preparing the Removal of Bamiyan from the List of World Heritage in Danger (2020.02.27)

Afghanistan shelves plan to restore Bamiyan Buddha (2018.07.30)

Official Warns Of Vanishing Archeological Sites In Bamiyan Valley (2018.01.24)

Rebuilding history? Debate rages over lost Afghan Buddhas (2016.12.01)

Bamiyan Buddhas rise again in 3D (2015.06.15)

Bamiyan Buddhas unauthorized reconstruction work stopped (2014.02.09)

Destroyed Bamiyan Buddha statues not to be rebuilt (2012.02.18)

Ancient Buddhas Will Not Be Rebuilt - UNESCO (2011.03.18)

UN says remaining Bamiyan Buddha statues did not suffer from blast by NZ soldiers (2008.05.05)

World ponders rebuilding biggest Buddhas (2006.12.10)

Ancient Persian drawing found in Afghan Buddhist cave (2006.07.26)

Locations

The site has 8 locations

Bamiyan Valley: Bamiyan Cliff including niches of the 38 meter Buddha, seated Buddhas, 55 meter Buddha and surrounding caves Bamiyan District, Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan
Bamiyan Valley: Kakrak Valley caves including the niche of the standing Buddha Bamiyan District, Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan
Bamiyan Valley: Qoul-I Akram Caves in the Fuladi Valley Bamiyan District, Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan
Bamiyan Valley: Kalai Ghamai Caves in the Fuladi Valley Bamiyan District, Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan
Bamiyan Valley: Shahr-i-Zuhak Bamiyan District, Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan
Bamiyan Valley: Qallay Kaphari A Bamiyan District, Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan
Bamiyan Valley: Qallay Kaphari B Bamiyan District, Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan
Bamiyan Valley: Shahr-i-Ghulghulah Bamiyan District, Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan

Connections

The site has

Architecture
Cave dwellings: "The valley was abandoned for a long period, but at the end of the 19th century, the caves were inhabited and used as shelters for domestic animals." (AB evaluation)
Constructions
Cultural sites connected to Cliffs: Bamiyan Buddha built into the cliff
Giant Buddha statues: The two most prominent statues were the giant standing Buddhas Vairocana and Sakyamuni, identified by the different mudras performed, measuring 55 and 37 metres (wiki)
Damaged
Blown up: Bamiyan buddhas, 2001
Landmines
Iconoclasm: Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban in 2001
Geography
Highest cultural WHS: 2,800 m
Named after a River: "The Kunduz River (Persian: رود قندوز) is a tributary of the Amu Darya in northern Afghanistan. It rises in Bamyan Province in the Hindu Kush, and in its upper reaches is also known as the Bamyan River or the Surkhab River" (wiki)
History
Silk Roads: Southern Land Route; "stopping place on the branch of the Silk Route, which linked China and India via ancient Bactria; ... an important Buddhist centre on the Silk Road" (AB ev)
Sieges and Battles: The Shahr-e Gholghola was the site of 13th century Siege of Bamyan and the massacre of the city's population by Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, avenging the murder of his favorite grandson. This is the origin of the city's moniker "City of Woe".
Sassanid Empire: The two Buddhas were built in the period between AD 544 to 595 for the 38 meter "Eastern Buddha" and between AD 591 and 644 for the larger "Western Buddha". In this period, Bamiyan was part of the Sassanid Empire. The Gandhara school of Buddhist art, of which Bamiyan Valley is an outstanding representation, drew from the Hellenistic, Roman and Sasanian art traditions. In the Kakrak Valley caves, there are fragments remaining of a sanctuary with painted decorations from the Sasanian period. (AB ev)
Human Activity
Rock Cut Art
Individual People
Xuanzang: In Bamyan, Xuanzang met the king and saw tens of non-Mahayana monasteries, in addition to the two large Buddhas of Bamiyan carved out of the rockface.
Travels of Hyecho: "A month later, Hyeocho arrives in Gandhara, where Buddhist art reached brilliant heights. He goes north from there, passing through Oddiyana, and then west, to Afghanistan. He visits Bamyan and then heads to Tokhara." - Northeast Asian History Foundation
Genghis Khan: The Shahr-e Gholghola was the site of 13th century Siege of Bamyan and the massacre of the city's population by Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, avenging the murder of his favorite grandson. This is the origin of the city's moniker "City of Woe". The citadel of Shahr-e Zuhak in the valley was also destroyed by Genghis Khan.
Religion and Belief
Buddhist sites in non-Buddhist countries
Legends and Folk Myths: Legend has it that the two statues are two runaway lovers who petrified themselves to remain frozen together in eternity.
Science and Technology
Digitized by Iconem
Cultural property cloning: "the painting of the “Soaring god of the sun” that was present on the ceiling of the Buddhas in Bamiyan in Afghanistan, which was destroyed in 2001"
Timeline
Built in the 6th century: Following the destruction of the statues in 2001, carbon dating of organic internal structural components found in the rubble has determined that the two Buddhas were built circa AD 600, with narrow dates of between AD 544 to 595 for the 38 meter "Eastern Buddha", and between AD 591 and 644 for the larger "Western Buddha".
Trivia
In Video Games: Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Built elsewhere as a full size replica: n Sri Lanka, a full-scale replica of one of the Buddhas has been created which is now known as the Tsunami Honganji Viharaya at Pareliya. It is dedicated to the victims of the 2005 tsunami.
Visiting conditions
One thousand visitors or fewer: DD : “There are no statistics available on the number of visitors and tourism activities. As Afghanistan has suffered many years of civil unrest in the past two decades, tourism development has been scarce in recent years.” (there may be a reasonable number of local visitors)
WHS on Other Lists
World Monuments Watch (past): Buddhist Remains of Bamiyan (2008)
World Heritage Process
Ten years or more to inscribe: 1983-2003
Directly in Danger: 2001 Buddha statues destroyed, 2003 inscribed and placed in danger

Visitors

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