World famous Buddhas of Bamiyan resurrected in Afghanistan

Buddhas of Bamiyan: Two 6th-century monumental statues of standing Buddha carved into Bamiyan valley of central Afghanistan.

The Buddhas of Bamiyan were recently in news on 7 June 2015 as they were resurrected in Bamiyan Valley, Afghanistan via 3D light projection technology.

The project was undertaken by a Chinese couple Janson Yu and Liyan Hu, who used 3D laser light projection technology to fill the empty cavities in the cliff in the Bamiyan Valley in Hazarajat with Buddha's virtual images.

The two statues of Standing Buddhas of Bamiyan, 115 ft and 174 ft tall respectively, were carved out of sandstone cliffs and stood at one point painted and gilded. They managed to survive for more than 1500 years.

The statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. The main bodies of statues were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modeled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco to enhance the expressions of the faces, hands and folds of the robes.

The statues were among the most famous cultural landmarks of the region, and the site was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site along with the surrounding cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the Bamiyan Valley.

These statues were destroyed in March 2001 by Taliban declaring it as false idols.

Now get latest Current Affairs on mobile, Download # 1  Current Affairs App