The Hindu Business Line : The missing Buddhas

ONE of the most heinous acts committed during the Taliban regime was the destruction of the three Buddha statues in the Bamiyan valley right in the heart of the Hindu Kush region. Visiting the massive Bamiyan cliff where these Buddhas once stood and where the empty arches bear testimony to their occupants, one is overcome with a heavy sense of loss.

Uma Narayanan, founder of the SOS Villages in Tambaram, Chennai, and a member of our group, speaks for all of us when she admits to a "churning" in her stomach at the very sight of the depressing and desolate picture. But what is today stark and desolate, with hardly a few tourists visiting this historic site, was once home to massive Buddha statues — the bigger 55 metres tall and the smaller 35 metres — resplendent in red and blue attire, gilded face and hands, and glittering ornaments, and surrounded by colourful paintings. But the Taliban's barbaric act has left only an outline of what once was, and a few murals inside. Added to this, decades of war and destruction and Bamiyan town itself is today a ghost of what it once was.

In 1970, in A Historic Guide to Afghanistan, Nancy Hatch Dupree described Bamiyan thus: "Bamiyan is a little town located at the very heart of the Hindu Kush, in a beautiful valley containing one of man's most remarkable achievements — the colossal Buddhas of Bamiyan. The exquisite beauty of this serene valley tightly embraced by towering mountains bathed in pastel colours, literally captivates all who visit it." Following patronage from the Indian emperor Kanishka in the second century, Buddhism flourished with large monasteries and missionaries carrying its message beyond the Indian sub-continent. Eventually, Buddhism came to the Bamiyan Valley where its devotees created "the most spectacular images of the Buddha attracted pilgrims for centuries," says the author.

The smaller Buddha statue was the first to be sculpted in Bamiyan's cliffs in the third or fourth century (the actual period is a hot topic of debate). "The figure was carved out of the face of the sandstone cliff and then covered with a mixture of mud and wheat straw ... the robe of the small Buddha was blue; traces of the yellow paint on the neck indicate that the now missing (part of the) face and hands were similarly coloured." The large Buddha was also carved from the face of the cliff "but here the drapery, instead of being moulded on the figure, was formed by draping ropes over the figure which were then covered with mud and straw mixture," she says.

Once upon a time, the Buddha was gilded with gold, and much earlier "its precious ornaments dazzled the eyes with their brightness." The entire niche was covered with paintings dating from the late fifth to the early seventh century. Between the larger and the smaller Buddha is found another niche, which had the figure of a woman, was also destroyed by the Taliban. Around these niches were a complicated maze of caves and groves; in some of the smaller ones the monks lived and a couple of larger ones were used as assembly halls.

Today, all that is left is a lukewarm debate on whether the Buddhas should be recreated or not. Also there are reports that a massive statue of the Buddha... a couple of 100 metres in length, lies buried under the earth somewhere in Bamiyan and a French and Afghan excavation team is working on uncovering it. Sher Khan, our hotel owner is quick to add: "Actually its face was uncovered during an excavation and covered back again." But, of course, there was no confirmation of this fantastic tale.

But returning to the present condition of Bamiyan, now that it is considered safe to travel to the northern parts of Afghanistan, many Japanese tourists are visiting the town, particularly as the famous Band Amir lakes are located 75 km away. But the roads are in bad condition, there are barely a couple of hotels where people can stay; and every morning people gather in a central place to look for jobs with either the UN agencies or several other NGOs, including the Agha Khan Development Network that is active in several projects in Afghanistan. But the shops in the main bazaar are well stacked... and ready for brisk business. A member of our group Maya Jayapal, a teacher and travel writer from Bangalore, was surprised to find a cadmium lithium battery for her Nikon F 601 from a little photo shop in the town!

Despite the tough life here, Jonathan Patrick, an Englishman who is working for a British aid agency and has been in Bamiyan for 18 months, simply loves it. He has been working in Afghanistan for four years and we saw him at a carpet shop picking up a piece for $90 (Rs 3,800). "I give a lot of business to this man," he says cheerfully, pointing to a beautiful silk carpet with a price tag of $1,500 (Rs 64,500). "I would buy it if I had the money; you know it would cost $10,000 (Rs 4 lakh) in London."

(Concluded)

Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

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