After decades of war brought on by empires (British, Russian, American, Chinese) and negative media coverage (US propaganda), most adventure travelers wouldn’t even dream of coming here.
But today, I [a Lithuanian from the EU] set out to show a different side of this country – the beauty, the hospitality, and the raw reality of life in Afghanistan today.
Riding my motorcycle from Kabul to the legendary Bamiyan Valley and the pristine waters of Band-e Amir Lakes, I’ll ride through breathtaking landscapes, ancient history, and powerful human encounters.
(Historian Dr. Ranajit Pal)
Along the way, I meet a beekeeper who shares his honey, almonds, and hospitality, explore the ruins of the ancient and massive Bamiyan Buddhas destroyed by the [CIA-ISI's] Taliban, share food with families living in caves Buddhist monastics carved out and occupied around the time of the Buddha and for centuries thereafter, and witness the extreme poverty that 40 years of war has left behind.
The two colossal Bamiyan Buddhas stood as arguably the most important archeological site in Afghanistan for well over 1,000 years. They were the largest standing Buddha figures in the world.
Then, in a matter of days in the spring of 2001, members of the Taliban [urged on by the CIA and Pakistan's ISI] destroyed the images carved into a cliff face in the Bamiyan Valley. What comes next for Bamiyan?
The smaller Buddha stood about 125 feet (38 meters) tall. It is thought to have been carved from the mountainside around 550 CE, according to radiocarbon dating [of organic matter, which seems very unreliable and based on the assumption that any portion of it is when it was all built].
To the east, the larger Buddha stood some 180 feet (55 meters) high, and was [thought to have been] carved a bit later, likely around 615 CE.
Each Buddha stood in a niche, attached to the back wall along their robes, but with free-standing feet and legs so pilgrims could circumambulate them.
The stone cores of the statues were originally covered with clay then with a brightly covered clay slip. When the region was actively Buddhist [by the Hazara tribe and earlier the Scythians/Indo-Sakas/Shakyians], visitors' reports suggest that at least the smaller Buddha was decorated with gemstones and enough bronze plating to make it seem as if it were made entirely of bronze or gold, rather than stone and clay.
Both faces were likely rendered in clay attached to wooden scaffolding; the blank, featureless stone core underneath was all that remained by the 19th century, giving the Bamiyan Buddhas an unsettling appearance to foreign travelers who encountered them.
The Buddhas appear to have been the work of the Gandhara civilization, showing some Greco-Roman artistic influence in the clinging drape of the [toga like] monastic robes.
Small cave niches around the statues hosted pilgrims and monastics; many of them feature brightly-painted wall and ceiling oil painted art, illustrating scenes from the life and teachings of the historical Buddha.
In addition to the two tall standing figures, numerous smaller seated Buddhas are carved into the cliff.
In 2008, archeologists rediscovered a buried reclining Buddha figure, 62 feet (19 meters) long, at the foot of the mountainside.
The Bamiyan region remained predominantly Buddhist up until the 9th century. Islam gradually displaced Buddhism in the area because it offered easier trading relations with surrounding Muslim states.
In 1221, Genghis Khan invaded the Bamiyan Valley, wiping out the population, but leaving the Buddhas undamaged. Genetic testing confirms that the Hazara people who now live in Bamiyan are descended from the Mongols.
Most Muslim rulers and travelers in the area either expressed wonder at the statues or paid them little heed. For example, Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, passed through the Bamiyan Valley in 1506-7 but did not even mention the Buddhas in his journal.
The later Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707) reportedly tried to destroy the Buddhas using artillery; he was famously conservative, and even banned music during his reign, in a foreshadowing of Taliban rule. Aurangzeb's reaction was the exception, however, not the rule among Muslim observers of the Bamiyan Buddhas. More
The award-winning film Saving Mes Aynak follows Afghan archeologist Qadir Temori as he races against time to save this 5,000-year-old Buddhist archeological site in Afghanistan from imminent demolition [by Chinese industrialists who want to extract gold and rare earth minerals].
Saving Mes Aynak, from the producers of Life Itself and The Interrupters, examines the conflict between ancient cultural preservation and new economic opportunity, through the lens of the Afghan archeologists and local villagers who live and work near Mes Aynak.
They face a nearly impossible battle against the communist Chinese, the Islamic Taliban, and local politics to save their Buddhist culture and heritage from permanent erasure.
But we can help.
The Buddha was born in Afghanistan, according to Dr. Ranajit Pal, which at that time was a part of ancient Gandhara, and the oldest Buddhist texts are from there: Gandhāran Buddhist texts. This is why the largest unexcavated Buddhist temple is in Afghanistan, why the oldest Buddhist texts are from here, and why the largest Buddha statues were built here (including the most massive one in the world, a buried reclining Buddha in the lion's pose under Bamiyan). The Shakyians, from which we derive the name Shakyamuni, are the ancient Indo-Sakas.
[UPDATE: Sakka,Kwan Yin, MahaBrahma, and/or Prajnaparamita Devi seem to have intervened and raised the human supply of rare earth minerals, which means the price was brought down, which stopped the Chinese government in its tracks. It already built train tracks to the site to begin extracting the country's mineral resources, but it does not seem feasible (profitable) now to do so. Other sources of these formerly rare minerals were found on the seabed by Russian and other prospectors. That seems to have made things safe...until everyone needs a second cellphone and more electronics, which are dependent on these elements. So take care of your devices and use them longer, extending their usefulness and lifespan even though Apple Corporation and others want planned obsolescence.]
For the past few years, the effort of American Director (and Northwestern University Professor) Brent E. Huffman, through Saving Mes Aynak, has played a vital role in delaying the demolition of this historical treasure.
Mes Aynak: 1 sq. mile Buddhist temple complex
But again time may be quickly running out. A state-owned Chinese mining company still has immediate plans to destroy Mes Aynak and mine it for precious minerals, and it could happen AT ANY MOMENT.
Now, the only way for Mes Aynak to be saved is if the Afghan government (that sold off the mineral rights in a desperate attempt to earn foreign currency) intervenes, halts mining, and officially petitions to UNESCO to make Mes Aynak a World Heritage Site.
Only the Afghan government can approach UNESCO.
Through the film Saving Mes Aynak, the major goal is to raise mass awareness of the impending demolition, creating an international movement to put pressure on the mining company, the Afghanistan government, and UNESCO to make Mes Aynak a World Heritage Site.
This is the ONLY WAY to #SAVEMESAYNAK.
The more funds raised, the more people will see the film and know the beauty and importance of Mes Aynak, and the greater the chance of Mes Aynak being saved.
To do this, the focal point of the campaign is #SaveMesAynak Day, July 1st, a global event when supporters everywhere stream the film and stand in unity together to save Mes Aynak.
Through social media, plans are to use this day to spark worldwide conversation, action, and protest. After that, an ambitious outreach effort will be mounted through the film to reach as many people as can be reached.
The more awareness that can be raised, the larger the pressure that can be put on the Afghan government to stop the demolition and to formally petition UNESCO instead. This way, we can all ensure Mes Aynak's safety for future generations. #savemesaynak
Hey, UNESCO, declare it a World Heritage Site
Afghan Buddhist treasures are priceless.
[Look, we're working on it:] ...a number of achievements, especially related to the enhancement of the joint Ministry of Information and Culture (MoIC)-Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) discussions about the Mes Aynak case. During a round of renegotiation between the MoMP and the Mining Company, it was suggested to implement an underground mining method, at least for the Central Aynak Deposit, to allow for in-situ conservation. This exploration of an integrated approach from the side of the MoMP, a tremendous step forward, led to the organization of the Mes Aynak Symposium (July 2019). The aim was to provide the government with a complete understanding of the relationship between mining and cultural resources in Mes Aynak and to examining the available options to reconcile them before approving a mining plan... unesco.org/en...afghanistan-heritage
The Buddha was born a Scythian (Shakyian, Saka) prince in the Indo-Scythian region of Sakastan (Gandhara, modern Afghanistan). See the work of maverick Indian historian Dr. Ranajit Pal, particularly his breakthrough work Alexander. In Proto-India (Magadha and other kingdoms), the Buddha was considered a "foreigner" because he was a Saka (Scythian, Shakya, Sakai) and treated as such, particularly much later by Sri Shankara who created a systematic "Hinduism" (Indus-ism) out of the ancient indigenously Indian Vedic (Indus Valley Civilization "knowledge books") and Brahminical (Brahmanism) traditions of the Brahmin priests.
These mysterious people, intrepid horsemen and women, have left a real desire for archeological discovery. From the 1st millennium BC onwards, the Scythians constituted a moving and formidable empire established in the vast Eurasian steppes.
The only traces they left us of their existence and significance are their graves: the kurgans (barrows, tumuli, cairns, tells, stupaslike the unimaginable Takht-e Rostam, Afghanistan).
In April 1999, a Franco-Italian and Kazakh scientific team announced the exceptional discovery in Kazakhstan of a 2,400-year-old Scythian tomb.
A true archeological treasure, the contents of the tomb reveal, among other things, 12 horses entirely harnessed in gold, whose precious adornment testifies to the social rank of the deceased, whom they accompany to their final resting place.
All the objects discovered are unique and shed new light on the life of the mysterious people of intrepid horsewomen and men. More
AWARDS: Youth Jury Prize, Researchers' Film Festival 2001, Nancy (France) Special Jury Mention, Filmobidos Festival, Obidos, Portugal - May 2001 Best Archaeological Film Award, Human Adventure Festival 2001, Castellana Grotte (Italy) Grand Jury Award, Nyon Archaeological Film Festival 2001 (Switzerland) Audience Award, Nyon Festival, Switzerland - March 2001 Bronze Medal, New York Film Festival 2001, (USA) Scientific Adventure Grand Prize, Scoop Festival 2000, Angers (France)
Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria: In the Name of our Heritage
(Best Documentary) July 12, 2024: Twenty years ago, the [CIA and ISI's Taliban] destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan shocked the world. Preserved for millennia, these statues of the Buddha disappeared in an instant, victims of the Islamic purifying madness of the Taliban [fed a CIA philosophy of Wahabism].
It was to be the start of a new trend: the deliberate destruction of historical artifacts. With Islamist groups in the Sahel, then the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, world heritage has paid a heavy price [to promote war between angry Christians clamoring for war and younger Muslims going along with a constructed narrative]. The ancient sites of Palmyra and Hatra, the museums of Mosul and Raqqa and various religious monuments have been reduced to rubble.
Since 2016, these acts have been recognized as war crimes by the International Criminal Court. Under the banner of UNESCO and ALIPH, the international community is now attempting to restore and reconstruct these witnesses of time and past civilizations.
In Mosul, Iraq, the city museum and its collection of Assyrian art is slowly being restored with the help of the Louvre. The old minaret of the Al-Nouri Mosque, a national emblem, is also being restored. Thirty kilometers away, at the Syrian Catholic monastery of Mar Behnam, the mausoleum of a saint that was destroyed by ISIS has been rebuilt. Today, through this rediscovered heritage, the entire population of the region is finding its roots.
Director: Thomas Raguet. Featured places: See more information in Google Maps
Buddha of Bamyan
Tourist attraction
4.5
(377)
Details
Several major collections of Buddhist manuscripts from ancient Buddhist Gandhara (present-day northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan [both of which were parts of India before Partition in 1947]) have come to light over the past three decades.
The oldest of these are the Gandhari [language] manuscripts, which date from approximately the 1st century BCE to the 3rd century CE, making them the earliest Buddhist manuscripts yet found.
After a historical survey of Buddhism in Gandhara (Central Asia), including local artistic innovations and the importance of the region in the spread of Buddhism to Central Asia and China, this lecture highlights:
recent manuscript discoveries,
the impact they are having on our understanding of Buddhism,
the new technologies that make collaboration and digital repatriation possible.
ABOUT: Khyentse Foundation has organized this series. These online offerings by leading Buddhist Studies scholars are called "The Goodman Lectures." They are organized in honor of long-time Khyentse Foundation friend and advisor Professor Steven D. Goodman (1945–2020), whose enduring vision to make academic talks available to people beyond the classroom inspired Khyentse Foundation and its friends in academia to share their Buddhist knowledge and insight with a general audience.
It's a long way from home. Since the first pharaohs ruled Egypt at the end of the 4th millennium BC, the country has worshipped a wide pantheon of gods and goddesses, but it has never, as far as we're aware, embraced Buddhism.
It raised a lot of eyebrows, then, when archeologists recently unearthed a two-foot (60 cm) tall Buddha statue while excavating a temple to the Egyptian Goddess Isis in the ancient port city of Berenike -- reportedly the first such statue ever found west of Afghanistan [where the Buddha was likely born, not Nepal as popularly thought, west of proto-India, because "India" did not come into existence until the Buddhist Emperor Asoka united disparate kingdoms and territories two centuries or more after the passing of the Buddha, circa 600 BC].
Founded in the third century BC and an important Red Sea hub, Berenike became particularly prominent after the Roman invasion of Egypt in 30 BC, and a steady stream of artifacts have been discovered there in recent decades.
Garum Masala | William Dalrymple | The New York Review of Books (nybooks.com) In March 2022 a team of American archaeologists was excavating a temple of the Egyptian Goddess Isis at the ancient site of Berenike, on the shores of the Red Sea in modern-day Egypt, when they stumbled across a series of remarkable finds [such as an ancient Buddha statue].
Berenike is today a bleak and desolate spot....
jpost.com/archaeology/article-741997
Buddha statue uncovered in Egypt's Red Sea reveals ancient trade... In the Egyptian port city of Berenike, situated near the nation's southernmost point of the Red Sea, archaeologists have uncovered an...
The Buddha was from Afghanistan (Gandhara/Kapilavastu), Central Asia, next to proto-India
More war crimes are committed by the USA's CIA (secret service) than any other syndicate.
Night Raids: Victims of CIA-backed Afghan Death Squads known as “Zero Units” demand accountability
(Democracy Now!) Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) speaks with journalist Lynzy Billing, whose investigation for ProPublica details how CIA-backed death squads, known as "Zero Units," have yet to be held accountable for murdering hundreds of civilians during the U.S. War on Afghanistan.
The CIA loves war, killing, controlling minds
The Afghan units, which were routinely accompanied by [Christian] U.S. soldiers, were feared throughout rural [Islamic] Afghanistan for their brutal night raids, often descending upon helpless villagers from helicopters and carrying out summary executions before disappearing.
Dalai Lama in bed with CIA
Families of victims continue to demand answers. But since the operations were directed by the CIA rather than the [formal U.S.] military, there is almost no oversight or disclosure when things go wrong.
“Many people I spoke to feel that these operations…were counterproductive and actually had turned their families against the U.S.-backed government in Kabul and against the U.S.,” says Billing.
ADMISSION (New York Times): "cooperation between intelligence agencies of the two countries [US and Israel], a subject generally...shrouded in vagueness. Mr. [Wolf] Blitzer has some of the specifics on the record: the retired Air Force intelligence chief, Gen. George F. Keegan, told him of Israeli assistance in discovering Soviet Air Force capabilities, new weapons, electronics and jamming devices. ''I could not have procured the intelligence...with five CIAs,'' General Keegan is quoted as saying. More
All materials on this site are submitted by editors and readers. All images, unless otherwise noted, were taken from the Internet and are assumed to be in the public domain.
In the event that there is still a problem, issue, or error with copyrighted material, the break of the copyright is unintentional and noncommercial, and the material will be removed immediately upon presented proof.
Contact us by submitting a comment marked "private."
Do not follow this journal if you are under vinaya or parental restrictions. Secure protection by Sucuri.
Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at creativecommons.org/about/licenses.
.jpg)
%20wiki.jpeg)
