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Home > Magazines > Archaeology Odyssey > July/August 2001

The Buddhas of Bamiyan

John C. Huntington

Legendary Bamiyan! As our car neared the valley, I had no idea what to expect. Afghanistan and its friendly people promised a magnificent climax to the 18 months I had spent in Asia in 1969 and 1970. It was an up-and-down ride, crossing three or four high passes. Eventually ruined forts, villages and the rocky Afghani landscape gave way to a broad plain with a simple two-story hotel and some yurts, circular tents made of yak hair or horse hide. The yurts belonged not 036to wandering nomads but to the hotel, and we stayed in them during our […]

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Footnotes

1.

The 108th surah of the Koran reads: “In the name of Allah, the Beneficent and Merciful, / Say! O Disbelievers! / I worship not that which ye worship; / Nor worship ye that which I worship; / And I shall not worship that which ye worship. / Nor will ye worship that which I worship. / Unto you, your religion; and unto me, my religion. (Revealed at Mecca.)” This surah would appear to demand an attitude of tolerance. According to some press reports, the Taliban have indeed allowed Afghani citizens who are members of Jain, Hindu and other groups to continue to practice their religions.

2.

See Robert Schick, “The Image Destroyers,” AO 02:05.

Endnotes

1.

Other enormous depictions also exist, especially in Tibetan cultural areas. There we find vast seated images of the Bodhisattva. Such images are still being constructed in Tibetan cultural areas by Chinese and Japanese Buddhist communities. One Buddha now under construction by the Indian Maitreya Project will be the largest image in the world (see the Web Site at www.maitreyaproject.org).

2.

This ceremony is a reenactment of the Vessantara Jataka, the last rebirth of the being who was to become Siddhartha, or the historical Buddha. Thus the king acted out and attempted to assure his own future Buddhahood.

3.

This passage was translated from the Chinese for this article by Ohio State University graduate student Wei Lin.