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|WHS=Buddhas of Bamiyan|map_caption=Location of the Buddhas of Bamiyan within Afghanistan}}
The '''Buddhas of Bamiyan''' ({{Lang-ps|د باميانو بودايي پژۍ}}, {{Lang-prs|تندیسهای بودا در بامیان}}) were two possibly 6th-century<ref name="Gall 1">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/05/world/asia/05iht-buddhas.3793036.html | title=Afghans consider rebuilding Bamiyan Buddhas | work=International Herald Tribune/The New York Times | date=5 December 2006 | access-date=8 March 2014 | last=Gall | first=Carlotta}}</ref> monumental [[Buddhist art of Bamiyan|Buddhist statues]] in the [[Bamyan|Bamiyan Valley]] of [[Afghanistan]]. Located {{convert|130|km|mi}} to the northwest of [[Kabul]], at an elevation of {{convert|2500|m|ft}}, [[Radiocarbon dating|carbon dating]] of the structural components of the Buddhas has determined that the smaller {{convert|38|m|ft|abbr=on}} "Eastern Buddha" was built around 570 CE, and the larger {{convert|55|m|ft|abbr=on}} "Western Buddha" was built around 618 CE, which would date both to the time when the [[Hephthalites]] ruled the region.<ref name="ICOMOS18" /><ref name="B2009">Eastern Buddha: 549–579 CE (1 σ range, 68.2% probability) 544–595 CE (2 σ range, 95.4% probability). Western Buddha: 605–633 CE (1 σ range, 68.2%) 591–644 CE (2 σ range, 95.4% probability). In Blänsdorf et al. (2009).</ref><ref name="Nic2018">{{cite book |last1=Nicholson |first1=Oliver |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity |date=19 April 2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-256246-3 |page=708 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A09WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA708 |language=en|quote=The Bamiyan Buddhas dated from Hephthalite times}}</ref> As a [[List of World Heritage Sites in Afghanistan|UNESCO World Heritage Site]] of historical [[Buddhism in Afghanistan|Afghan Buddhism]], it was a holy site for Buddhists on the [[Silk Road]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-24 |title=Taliban make ancient Buddhas they destroyed into a tourist attraction |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/taliban-destroyed-afghanistans-ancient-buddhas-now-welcoming-tourists-rcna6307 |access-date=2023-09-12 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> However, in March 2001, both statues were destroyed by the [[Taliban]] following an order from their leader [[Mullah Omar|Mullah Muhammad Omar]]
The statues represented a later evolution of the classic blended style of [[Greco-Buddhist art]] at [[Gandhara]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Morgan | first = Kenneth W | title = The Path of the Buddha | page=43 | via = Google Books | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=g6OHBCgmmGAC&pg=PA43 | access-date = 2 June 2009| isbn = 978-8120800304 | year = 1956 | publisher = Motilal Banarsidass Publ. }}</ref> The larger statue was named ''"Salsal"'' ("the light shines through the universe") and was referred as a male. The smaller statue is called ''"Shah Mama"'' ("Queen Mother") and is identified as a female figure.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christian-frei.info/dvd/christian_frei-booklet_en.pdf |title=booklet web E.indd |access-date=9 October 2013}}</ref><ref name="bamiyanculturalcentre">{{cite web |url=https://bamiyanculturalcentre.org/visit-bamiyan |title=Visit Bamiyan |publisher=Bamiyanculturalcentre.org |access-date=29 November 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129235250/https://bamiyanculturalcentre.org/visit-bamiyan |archive-date=29 November 2021 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Technically, both were [[relief]]s: at the rear, they each merged into the cliff wall. The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modeled in mud mixed with straw, coated with [[stucco]]. This coating, the majority of which wore away long ago, was painted to enhance the expressions of the faces, hands, and folds of the robes; the larger one was painted [[Carmine (color)|carmine red]], and the smaller one was painted multiple colours.<ref name="gall1">{{cite news | last = Gall| first = Carlotta|date=6 December 2006| title = From Ruins of Afghan Buddhas, a History Grows| newspaper = The New York Times| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/world/asia/06budd.html| access-date = 6 January 2008}}</ref> The lower parts of the statues' arms were constructed from the same mud-straw mix, supported on wooden [[Armature (sculpture)|armatures]]. It is believed that the upper parts of their faces consisted of huge wooden masks.<ref name="ICOMOS18" />
Since the 2nd century CE, [[Bamiyan]] had been a [[Buddhist]] religious site on the [[Silk Road]] under the [[Kushans]], remaining so until the [[Islamic]] conquests of 770 CE, and finally coming under the Turkic [[Ghaznavid dynasty|Ghaznavid rule]] in 977 CE.<ref name="DTBD"/> In 1221, [[Genghis Khan]], invaded the Bamiyan Valley, wiping out most of its population but leaving the Bamiyan Buddhas undamaged.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/cities/afghanistan/bamiyan.html |title=Bamiyan and Buddhism Afghanistan |publisher=Depts.washington.edu |access-date=9 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kashgar.com.au/articles/Remembering-Bamiyan |title=Remembering Bamiyan |publisher=Kashgar.com.au |access-date=9 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004201837/http://www.kashgar.com.au/articles/Remembering-Bamiyan |archive-date=4 October 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Later in the 17th century, [[Mughals|Mughal]] emperor [[Aurangzeb]] briefly ordered the use artillery to destroy the statues, causing some damage, though the Buddhas survived without any major harm.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jain|first=Meenakshi|title=Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples: Episodes from Indian History|publisher=Aryan Books International|year=2019|isbn=978-81-7305-619-2|pages=28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/cities/afghanistan/bamiyan.html |title=Bamiyan and Buddhism Afghanistan |publisher=Depts.washington.edu |access-date=9 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kashgar.com.au/articles/Remembering-Bamiyan |title=Remembering Bamiyan |publisher=Kashgar.com.au |access-date=9 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004201837/http://www.kashgar.com.au/articles/Remembering-Bamiyan |archive-date=4 October 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
The Buddhas were surrounded by numerous caves and surfaces decorated with paintings.<ref name="BBC299"/> It is thought that these mostly dated from the 6th to 8th centuries CE and had come to an end with the [[Muslim conquests of Afghanistan]].<ref name="BBC299"/> The smaller works of art are considered as an artistic synthesis of [[Buddhist art]] and [[Gupta art]] from [[History of India|ancient India]], with influences from the [[Sasanian Empire]] and the [[Byzantine Empire]], as well as the [[Tokhara Yabghus]].<ref name="BBC299">{{cite journal |last1=Higuchi |first1=Takayasu |last2=Barnes |first2=Gina |title=Bamiyan: Buddhist Cave Temples in Afghanistan |journal=World Archaeology |date=1995 |volume=27 |issue=2 |page=299 |doi=10.1080/00438243.1995.9980308 |jstor=125086 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/125086 |issn=0043-8243}}</ref>▼
▲The Buddhas
==History==
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[[File:Bouddhas de Bâmiyân - Aout 2005.jpg|thumb|Site of the smaller statue in 2005]]
==== Decision to destroy ====
On 6 March 2001, British newspaper ''[[The Times]]'' quoted Omar as stating "Muslims should be proud of smashing idols. It has given praise to Allah that we have destroyed them."<ref name="AmTali">{{cite book |author=Markos Moulitsas Zúniga |title=American Taliban: How War, Sex, Sin, and Power Bind Jihadists and the Radical Right |year=2010 |publisher=Polipoint Press |quote=Muslims should be proud of smashing idols.| url=https://archive.org/details/americantalibanh0000moul |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/americantalibanh0000moul/page/8 8] |isbn=978-1-936227-02-0 }}</ref>
The destruction was carried out in stages. Initially, the statues were fired at for several days using anti-aircraft guns and artillery. This caused severe damage, but did not obliterate them. During the destruction, Taliban Information Minister Qudratullah Jamal said that, "The destruction work is not as easy as people would think. You can't knock down the statues by dynamite or shelling as both of them have been carved in a cliff. They are firmly attached to the mountain."<ref>{{cite web|title=Photos document destruction of Afghan Buddhas|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/03/12/afghan.buddha.02/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313235406/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/03/12/afghan.buddha.02/|archive-date=13 March 2007|access-date=2007-03-13|df=dmy}}</ref> Later, the Taliban placed anti-tank mines at the bottom of the niches, so that when fragments of rock broke off from artillery fire, the statues would receive additional destruction from particles that set off the mines. In the end, the Taliban lowered men down the cliff face and placed explosives into holes in the Buddhas.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Destruction and Rebuilding of the Bamyan Buddhas|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2104119/entry/2104187|magazine=Slate Magazine}}</ref> After one of the explosions failed to obliterate the face of one of the Buddhas, a rocket was launched that left a hole in the remains of the stone head.<ref name="berg">Bergen, Peter. "The Osama bin Laden I Know", 2006. p. 271</ref>▼
During a 13 March interview for Japan's ''[[Mainichi Shimbun]]'', Afghan Foreign Minister [[Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel]] stated that the destruction was anything but a retaliation against the international community for economic sanctions: "We are destroying the statues in accordance with Islamic law and it is purely a religious issue." A statement issued by the ministry of religious affairs of the Taliban regime justified the destruction as being in accordance with Islamic law.<ref>{{cite news |date=12 March 2001 |
A local civilian, speaking to [[Voice of America]] in 2002, said that he and some other locals were forced to help destroy the statues. He also claimed that Pakistani and Arab engineers were involved in the destruction.<ref>{{cite web|date=2002-02-11|title=Local People Regret Taleban Destroyed Buddha Statues|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2002-02-11-6-local-67259532/379365.html|website=VOA}}</ref> Mullah Omar, during the destruction, was quoted as saying, "What are you complaining about? We are only waging war on stones".<ref name="slate.com">{{cite web|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/07/rebuilding-the-bamiyan-buddhas.html|title=Rebuilding the Bamiyan Buddhas|publisher=Slate.com|date=23 July 2004}}</ref>▼
[[File:Destruction of Buddhas March 21 2001.jpg|thumb|Destruction of the site by the [[Taliban]]]]▼
In an interview, Omar provided an ostensible explanation for his order to destroy the statues:{{blockquote|I did not want to destroy the Bamiyan Buddha. In fact, some foreigners came to me and said they would like to conduct the repair work of the Bamiyan Buddha that had been slightly damaged due to rains. This shocked me. I thought, these callous people have no regard for thousands of living human beings—the Afghans who are dying of hunger, but they are so concerned about non-living objects like the Buddha. This was extremely deplorable. That is why I ordered its destruction. Had they come for humanitarian work, I would have never ordered the Buddha's destruction.<ref>{{cite news|author=Mohammad Shehzad |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/12inter.htm |title=The Rediff Interview/Mullah Omar|date=3 March 2001|work=The Rediff|access-date=27 October 2010 | location=Kabul}}</ref>}}▼
▲In
▲During a 13 March interview for Japan's ''[[Mainichi Shimbun]]'', Afghan Foreign Minister [[Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel]] stated that the destruction was anything but a retaliation against the international community for economic sanctions: "We are destroying the statues in accordance with Islamic law and it is purely a religious issue." A statement issued by the ministry of religious affairs of the Taliban regime justified the destruction as being in accordance with Islamic law.<ref>{{cite news |date=12 March 2001| title = Destruction of Giant Buddhas Confirmed| publisher = [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]]| url = http://www.beliefnet.com/story/70/story_7096_1.html| access-date = 6 January 2008}}</ref>
There is additional speculation that the destruction may have been influenced by al-Qaeda in order to further isolate the Taliban from the international community, thus tightening relations between the two; however, the evidence is circumstantial.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tarzi |first=Amin |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/456412511 |title=The Taliban and the crisis of Afghanistan |date=2008 |publisher=Harvard University Press |others=Robert D. Crews, Amin Tarzi |isbn=978-0-674-03002-2 |location=Cambridge, Mass. |pages=305–306 |oclc=456412511}}</ref> [[Abdul Salam Zaeef]] held that the destruction of the Buddhas was finally ordered by Abdul Wali, the Minister for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.<ref>Zaeef p. 126</ref>▼
▲Then Taliban [[ambassador-at-large]] [[Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi]] said that the destruction of the statues was carried out by the Head Council of Scholars after a Swedish monuments expert proposed to restore the statues' heads. Rahmatullah Hashemi is reported as saying: "When the Afghan head council asked them to provide the money to feed the children instead of fixing the statues, they refused and said, 'No, the money is just for the statues, not for the children'. Herein, they made the decision to destroy the statues"; however, he did not comment on the claim that a foreign museum offered to "buy the Buddhist statues, the money from which could have been used to feed children".<ref>{{cite news|last=Kassaimah |first=Sahar |date=12 January 2001 |title=Afghani Ambassador Speaks at USC |publisher=[[IslamOnline]] |url=http://www.islamonline.net/english/news/2001-03/13/article12.shtml |access-date=6 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008012138/http://www.islamonline.net/english/news/2001-03/13/article12.shtml |archive-date=8 October 2007 }}</ref> Rahmatullah Hashemi added: "If we had wanted to destroy those statues, we could have done it three years ago," referring to the start of U.S. sanctions. "In our religion, if anything is harmless, we just leave it. If money is going to statues while children are dying of malnutrition next door, then that makes it harmful, and we destroy it."<ref name="auto"/>
▲There is speculation that the destruction may have been influenced by al-Qaeda in order to further isolate the Taliban from the international community, thus tightening relations between the two; however, the evidence is circumstantial.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tarzi|first=Amin|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/456412511|title=The Taliban and the crisis of Afghanistan|date=2008|publisher=Harvard University Press|others=Robert D. Crews, Amin Tarzi|isbn=978-0-674-03002-2|location=Cambridge, Mass.|pages=305–306|oclc=456412511}}</ref> [[Abdul Salam Zaeef]] held that the destruction of the Buddhas was finally ordered by Abdul Wali, the Minister for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.<ref>Zaeef p. 126</ref>
▲[[File:Destruction of Buddhas March 21 2001.jpg|thumb|Destruction of the site by the [[Taliban]]]]
==== International reaction ====
The Taliban's intention to destroy the statues
{{blockquote|Haider quoted a verse from the Koran that said Muslims should not slander the gods of other religions. ... He cited many cases in history, especially in [[Egypt]], where Muslims had protected the statues and art of other religions. The Buddhas in Afghanistan were older even than Islam. Thousands of Muslim soldiers had crossed Afghanistan to India over the centuries, but none of them had ever felt compelled to destroy the Buddhas. "When they have spared these statues for fifteen hundred years, all these Muslims who have passed by them, how are you a different Muslim from them?" Haider asked. "Maybe they did not have the technology to destroy them," Omar speculated.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Steve Coll|last=Coll|first=Steve|title=[[Ghost Wars|Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001]]|publisher=[[Penguin Group]]|year=2004|isbn=9781594200076|pages=554–555}}</ref>}}
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In [[Rome]], the former Afghan King, [[Mohammed Zahir Shah]], denounced the declaration in a rare press statement, calling it "against the national and historic interests of the Afghan people". [[Zemaryalai Tarzi]], who was Afghanistan's chief archeologist in the 1970s, called it an "unacceptable decision".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/an-attempt-to-wipe-out-history-the-destruction-of-the-bamian-buddha-colossi-in-2001/|title = "An attempt to wipe out history": The destruction of the Bamian Buddha colossi in 2001|date = March 2015}}</ref>
==== Process of destruction ====
▲The destruction was carried out in stages. Initially, the statues were fired at for several days using anti-aircraft guns and artillery. This caused severe damage, but did not obliterate them. During the destruction, Taliban Information Minister Qudratullah Jamal said that, "The destruction work is not as easy as people would think. You can't knock down the statues by dynamite or shelling as both of them have been carved in a cliff. They are firmly attached to the mountain."<ref>{{cite web |title=Photos document destruction of Afghan Buddhas |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/03/12/afghan.buddha.02/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313235406/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/03/12/afghan.buddha.02/ |archive-date=13 March 2007 |access-date=2007-03-13 |df=dmy}}</ref> Later, the Taliban placed anti-tank mines at the bottom of the niches, so that when fragments of rock broke off from artillery fire, the statues would receive additional destruction from particles that set off the mines. In the end, the Taliban lowered men down the cliff face and placed explosives into holes in the Buddhas.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Destruction and Rebuilding of the Bamyan Buddhas |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2104119/entry/2104187 |magazine=Slate Magazine}}</ref> After one of the explosions failed to obliterate the face of one of the Buddhas, a rocket was launched that left a hole in the remains of the stone head.<ref name="berg">Bergen, Peter. "The Osama bin Laden I Know", 2006. p. 271</ref>
▲A local civilian, speaking to [[Voice of America]] in 2002, said that he and some other locals were forced to help destroy the statues. He also claimed that Pakistani and Arab engineers were involved in the destruction.<ref>{{cite web |date=2002-02-11 |title=Local People Regret Taleban Destroyed Buddha Statues |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2002-02-11-6-local-67259532/379365.html |website=VOA}}</ref> Mullah Omar, during the destruction, was quoted as saying, "What are you complaining about? We are only waging war on stones".<ref name="slate.com">{{cite web |date=23 July 2004 |title=Rebuilding the Bamiyan Buddhas |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/07/rebuilding-the-bamiyan-buddhas.html
===Current status (2002–present)===
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In 2015, a wealthy Chinese couple, Janson Hu and Liyan Yu, financed the creation of a [[Statue of Liberty]]-size 3D light projection of an artist's view of what the larger Buddha, known as Solsol to locals, might have looked like in its prime. The image was beamed into the niche one night in 2015; later the couple donated their $120,000 projector to the culture ministry.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/world/asia/afghanistan-bamiyan-buddhas.html |title=2 Giant Buddhas Survived 1,500 Years. Fragments, Graffiti and a Hologram Remain.|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=18 June 2019|last1=Nordland|first1=Rod}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2015-06-13|title=Chinese couple bring destroyed Bamiyan Buddha statue back to 'light'|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/902541/chinese-couple-bring-destroyed-bamiyan-buddha-statue-back-to-light|access-date=2021-07-15|website=The Express Tribune|language=en}}</ref>
==Restoration==
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* In 2001 in China, carving of a {{convert|37|m|ft}} high Buddha was initiated in [[Sichuan]], which is the same height as the smaller of the two Bamiyan Buddhas. It was funded by a Chinese businessman, Liang Simian.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2001-10-05|title=Buddha rises again|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1581411.stm|access-date=2023-01-02}}</ref> The project appears to have been given up for unknown reasons.<ref>[http://www.giant-buddhas.com/en/downloads/dossier.pdf Leshan – The disappearance of a kitsch replica in "The Giant Buddhas, Documentary", Switzerland 2005, Christian Frei]</ref>
* In Sri Lanka, a full-scale replica has been created, which is now known as the Tsunami Honganji Viharaya at Pareliya. It is dedicated to the victims of the 2005 tsunami in the presence of Mahinda Rajapaksha. It was funded by Japan's [[Hongan-ji]] Temple of [[Kyoto]] and was inaugurated in 2006.<ref name="so">{{cite news | url=
| access-date=6 November 2020}}</ref>
* In Poland, the [[Arkady Fiedler]] Museum of Tolerance has a replica of a Bamiyan Buddha.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dritanje|date=2013-09-23|title=Rivertrain: The Buddhas of Bamiyan|url=https://rivertrain.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-buddhas-of-bamiyan.html|access-date=2023-01-02|website=Rivertrain}}</ref>
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==In popular culture==
Despite the Buddhas's destruction, the ruins continue to be a popular culture landmark,<ref>{{cite web|title=The return of Afghanistan's Buddhas|date=10 June 2015|publisher=The Atlantic|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/06/3d-buddhas-afghanistan/395576/|access-date=19 July 2019}}</ref> bolstered by increasing domestic and international tourism to the Bamyan Valley.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tourism Revives in the Land of the Blasted Buddhas |newspaper=RFE/RL|date=26 May 2015 |url=https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-bamiyan-buddhas-tourism/27037650.html|access-date=19 July 2019 |last1=Bamyani |first1=Zafar }}</ref> The area around the ruins has since been used for the traditional game of [[buzkashi]],<ref name="cricketworldcup">{{cite web |url=https://www.cricketworldcup.com/news/en/959527 |title=Stars inspire young fans in peaceful Afghan town |publisher=Cricketworldcup.com |date=29 December 2018 |access-date=19 July 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726105419/https://www.cricketworldcup.com/news/en/959527 |archive-date=26 July 2019 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and other events. The music video of pop singer [[Aryana Sayeed]]'s hit 2015 song "Yaar-e Bamyani" was also shot by the ruins.<ref>{{cite web|title=Newsletter for the Embassy of Afghanistan in Japan (Volume 1, Issue 1)|work=The Heart of Asia Herald|url=http://www.afghanembassyjp.com/images/2017MarJunEngRev.pdf|access-date=19 July 2019}}</ref> The statues inspired Islamic writers in historical times. The larger statue appears as the malevolent giant Salsal in medieval Turkish tales.<ref>Laban Kaptein, ''Eindtijd en Antichrist'', p. 127. Leiden 1997. {{ISBN|90-73782-89-9}}</ref>
In June 1971, the Japanese [[Empress Michiko]] visited the Buddhas during a royal state visit to Afghanistan with her husband. Upon her return to Japan, she composed a [[waka poem]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-okotoba/01/waka/gyosei-h13.html |title=Waka Poems: 2001 - The Imperial Household Agency |publisher=Kunaicho.go.jp |date=2019-04-30 |accessdate=2022-08-19}}</ref>
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The 2022 Indian film ''[[Ram Setu (film)|Ram Setu]]'' shows the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan and an archaeological team's subsequent attempts to salvage the remains where they discover a fictional treasure belonging to [[Raja Dahir]] and a colossal [[reclining Buddha]] (which has been described in the writings of [[Xuanzang]] but has not actually been discovered).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kumar |first1=Anuj |title='Ram Setu' movie review: A bridge too far to cross for Akshay Kumar |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/ram-setu-movie-review-a-bridge-too-far-to-cross-for-akshay-kumar/article66056431.ece |website=[[The Hindu]] |language=en-IN |date=26 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Britannica|648327|Bamiyan}}</ref>
The AD 507 chapter of 2020 novel ''A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom'' by [[John Boyne]] writes an imaginary account of how the Buddhas were commissioned and built. <ref>{{cite book | url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/439135/a-traveller-at-the-gates-of-wisdom-by-john-boyne/9781784164188 | title=A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom | date=3 June 2021 }}</ref>
==See also==
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