Records on the Western Regions. He wrote about the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Xuanzang's work is the most detailed account of the countries of Central and South Asia by a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim. While his purpose was to obtain Buddhist books and to Buddhist instruction while in India, he recorded the cultures of the seventh century for later generations. He wrote the following: a declivity of a hill to the northeast of the capital was a standing image of ‘On the Buddha made out of stone 140 or 150 feet high, of a brilliant golden color and resplendent with ornamentation of precious substances.” Photo Citation: "Xuanzang w". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons The sculptures were dynamited and destroyed in March 2001 by the Taliban, on orders from leader Mullah Mohammed Omar after the Taliban government declared that they were idols. Anti-aircraft guns had little effect, so the engineers placed anti-tank mines between their feet, then bored holes into their heads and packed them with dynamite. Facts about The Buddhas The Buddha was between the third and fifth centuries. The largest was fifty-seven meters high (the height of a 20 story building). There are total of three colossal statues carved 4,000 feet apart. The third is a reclining Buddha that has not been discovered yet. At one time, two thousand monks meditated in caves among the sandstone cliffs. The world’s earliest oil paintings have been discovered in caves behind the partially destroyed colossal statues. Scientists have confirmed that the oil paintings, probably of either walnut or poppy seed oil, are present in twelve of the fifty caves dating from the 5th to 9th century. The whole mountain surrounding the Buddha is full of tunnels. The tunnels lead to little chambers in which the monks lived and prayed. The top of the Buddha’s face had been carved off and burned, by religious zealots of Aurangzeb’s soldiers in the 18th century. In Bamiyan, as elsewhere in Central Asia, destruction came with the arrival Ghengis Khan in 1221 C.E. He sent a small army to seize the valley, commanded by his grandson. When a bowshot from the fortress of the Red City killed the grandson, the Khan swore revenge. Ghengis Khan was true to his word, and the city of Bamiyan was never rebuilt. (Facts About Bamiyan)
Records on the Western Regions. He wrote about the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Xuanzang's work is the most detailed account of the countries of Central and South Asia by a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim. While his purpose was to obtain Buddhist books and to Buddhist instruction while in India, he recorded the cultures of the seventh century for later generations. He wrote the following: ‘On a declivity of a hill to the northeast of the capital was a standing image of the Buddha made out of stone 140 or 150 feet high, of a brilliant golden color and resplendent with ornamentation of precious substances.” Photo Citation: "Xuanzang w". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons The sculptures were dynamited and destroyed in March 2001 by the Taliban, on orders from leader Mullah Mohammed Omar after the Taliban government declared that they were idols. Anti-aircraft guns had little effect, so the engineers placed anti-tank mines between their feet, then bored holes into their heads and packed them with dynamite. Facts about The Buddhas The Buddha was between the third and fifth centuries. The largest was fifty-seven meters high (the height of a 20 story building). There are total of three colossal statues carved 4,000 feet apart. The third is a reclining Buddha that has not been discovered yet. At one time, two thousand monks meditated in caves among the sandstone cliffs. The world’s earliest oil paintings have been discovered in caves behind the partially destroyed colossal statues. Scientists have confirmed that the oil paintings, probably of either walnut or poppy seed oil, are present in twelve of the fifty caves dating from the 5th to 9th century. The whole mountain surrounding the Buddha is full of tunnels. The tunnels lead to little chambers in which the monks lived and prayed. The top of the Buddha’s face had been carved off and burned, by religious zealots of Aurangzeb’s soldiers in the 18th century. In Bamiyan, as elsewhere in Central Asia, destruction came with the arrival Ghengis Khan in 1221 C.E. He sent a small army to seize the valley, commanded by his grandson. When a bowshot from the fortress of the Red City killed the grandson, the Khan swore revenge. Ghengis Khan was true to his word, and the city of Bamiyan was never rebuilt. (Facts About Bamiyan)