Bamiyan Buddhas: Should they be rebuilt?

[Ensapa]

In 2001, the world's biggest Buddha statues have been destroyed by the Taliban. Now there are people who would want to rebuild it. The question is this: should the statues be rebuilt? The main reason why they should is to benefit the people living nearby so that the tourists can come and visit...but the costs involved in rebuilding it is huge...so is it a good tradeoff?

Bamiyan Buddhas: Should they be rebuilt?
By Stephanie Hegarty, BBC World Service, 12 August 2012
Bamiyan, Ahghanistan -- The destruction of Afghanistan's Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001 led to global condemnation of the Taleban regime. But the decision by Unesco not to rebuild them has not put an end to the debate about their future.
When the Taliban were at the height of their power in Afghanistan, leader Mullah Omar waged a war against idolatry.

His biggest victims, in size as well as symbolism, were two standing stone Buddhist statues. Once the largest in the world - one measured 55 metres in height - they were carved into the sandstone cliff face of the Bamiyan valley in central Afghanistan during the 6th Century.

When the Taliban were overthrown in 2003, Unesco declared the valley a world heritage site and archaeologists flocked to it. What they found were two enormous empty caverns and a pile of debris littered with unexploded mines.


One of the Buddhas was 55 metres high
Since then, they have been surveying the rubble of the two stone structures to determine whether the Buddhas should be rebuilt.

The Bamiyan valley marked the most westerly point of Buddhist expansion and was a crucial hub of trade for much of the last millennium. It was a place where East met West and its archaeology reveals a blend of Greek, Turkish, Persian, Chinese and Indian influence that is found nowhere else in the world.

But last year, Unesco announced that it was no longer considering reconstruction. In the case of the bigger Buddha, it was decided there wasn't enough left to rebuild and though rebuilding the smaller one is possible, they said it is unlikely to happen.

Instead they are working with teams from Japan and Italy to secure the cracking cliff face and keep the cliffs and any of the remaining wall paintings that once covered the caves and niches intact.


 
But a German group of archaeological conservationists, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos), are still pushing for the Buddha to be rebuilt.

Bert Praxenthaler works alongside Icomos and since 2004 he has been working on the site to salvage any remaining fragments of the sculpture, some weighing up to 40 tonnes and putting them under a protective covering to preserve them as best he can.

He is interested in a process called anastylois which involves putting these fragments back together using a minimal amount of new materials.

"It's a jigsaw puzzle with missing links but with geological methods we can discover where those fragments have been before," says Praxenthaler.

The method has been used on the Parthenon and the Acropolis in Athens but it would be the first time it is used to reconstruct a monument that was intentionally destroyed and arguments against reconstruction abound.

Not least is money. Rebuilding just the small Buddha would cost millions of dollars in a region that lacks basic infrastructure such as roads and electricity. It would require the manufacture or import of a huge amounts of metal which would have to travel along the dangerous road from Kabul.

"Of course the counter argument to that is that jaw-dropping sums of money are spent in Afghanistan every day," says Dr Llewelyn Morgan, author of The Buddhas of Bamiyan, a history of the sculptures. "This would be a drop in the ocean."

Still, Morgan says, there are more pressing issues that archaeologists need to look at in Afghanistan. "Bamiyan has a tendency to draw all archaeological resources to it," he says. "But in Afghanistan you are looking at an astonishing archaeological treasure trove."


Families living in the valley remain impoverished
Looting is a very big problem and artefacts from around the country often end up in art markets in Pakistan. Morgan believes that resources would be better spent on creating an infrastructure to protect the breadth of Afghanistan's ancient treasures.

In a recent Huffington Post article he publicised the case of Chehel Burj, a medieval fortress in the mountains to the west of Bamiyan that is suffering from degradation.

"Give it time and illicit treasure hunting, earthquakes and old-fashioned freeze-thaw action will destroy more than the most single-minded iconoclast could ever dream of," he said.

But whatever the reason, the Bamiyan Buddhas have captured the international imagination and ideas for what to do with the site still pour in from archaeologists, architects, artists and historians.

One that has gained quite a lot of attention is a proposal from Italian architect Andrea Bruno to construct a small underground sanctuary at the foot of the Great Buddha which would allow visitors to look up at and appreciate the immensity of the empty niche.

Bruno believes the niches should be preserved as a monument to the crime of their destruction. "It is a kind of victory for the monument and a defeat for those who tried to obliterate its memory with dynamite," he says.

He argues that reconstruction would be culturally insensitive. "Here the Muslims strictly oppose images - to recreate the Buddhas would be an insult even to non-Taliban Afghans. We must show good manners," he says.

But Praxenthaler believes that reconstruction is a matter of local pride for the Hazara people, Shia Muslims who were targeted and persecuted by the Taliban.


Access to where the statues once stood has revealed much about the region
"It wasn't just a religious fatwa, to destroy all the idols, it was also an attempt to destroy the culture and the background and the pride of the people," he says. "The Hazara people appreciated that we were going to help them do something with their destroyed Buddhas."

He also says that reconstruction would enrich the local economy. His project has already employed over 50 people for salvaging and has also helped to train students from Bamiyan University in ancient stone-cutting techniques.

"People are building homes and they are employed by us, they are working and they get a decent salary."

Llewelyn Morgan, who last visited the site a year ago, also found reconstruction to be popular among locals for whom the Buddhas were once a great source of income from tourists.

"The impression you get in Bamiyan is that they are almost too naively positive about the reconstruction of the Buddha," says Morgan. "I've spoken to people who would like to see it go up in concrete, which of course Unesco would never countenance."

But the reception to rebuilding in the rest of the country is unpredictable.

"Afghanistan is a great melting pot of cultures but the one thing many of them share is they are very pious," says Morgan.

"Though many clerics and religious leaders may not have agreed with the destruction of religious idols, building them again is an entirely different matter."

[bambi]

What is gone, is done and passed. Why spend so much time and energy to think whether they should rebuild it? I would rather they build it somewhere else which is bigger and more grand. And hopefully no more bombing in the future. With resources and energy, more beautiful and stronger statues can be build. Can build bigger ones that can also benefit the locals. It would be great to have 1 BIG one that can bless everyone that sees the Holy image.

[Jessie Fong]

 Once the largest in the world - one measured 55 metres in height - they were carved into the sandstone cliff face of the Bamiyan valley in central Afghanistan during the 6th Century.  Unesco declared the valley a world heritage site and archaeologists flocked to it. What they found were two enormous empty caverns and a pile of debris littered with unexploded mines.  The Bamiyan valley marked the most westerly point of Buddhist expansion and was a crucial hub of trade for much of the last millennium. It was a place where East met West and its archaeology reveals a blend of Greek, Turkish, Persian, Chinese and Indian influence that is found nowhere else in the world.

Extracted from : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18991066






Just like the Colosseum of Rome, Italy - it is in ruins but to be able to build it back to its previous grand state may be possible with modern advanced technology but it would never be the same; so rebuilding the Bamiyan Buddhas may not be a good idea after all. 

Yes economically it may bring in the tourist dollars but there is no guarantee that they will remain intact in time to come.  May they were meant to be destroyed and never to be rebuilt again?  To serve as a reminder to the world of the atrocity of war?

[Rihanna]

In my opinion, the Buddha statues that have been destroyed by the Taliban in the area should be rebuilt.

It should be rebuilt because it will benefit the people in that area especially when we are talking about places in Afganistan where Dharma is so scarce. It will only benefit rather than have negative impact if the statues are being rebuilt there.

Secondly, it will do good for Afganistan government to rebuild the statues as the place was declared as a world heritage site. It will benefit the country's economy pocketed from tourism whereby thousands of Buddhists will flock into the country to visit and pay homage to the site. It would also look good for the government too as being liberal and respectful of other faiths.

[rossoneri]

The local government still can promote the Bamiyan Buddhas despite the condition of the statue. Example The Colosseum in Rome. The Italian Government is dong a good work in terms of promoting and maintaining the ancient empire of Romans. To me rather than spending so much funds to rebuilt or reconstruct the statue, why not using the funds to promote it. Since it's been declared by Unesco as the World Heritage Site and it's used to be the valley marked the most westerly point of Buddhist expansion and was a crucial hub of trade for much of the last millennium. It was a place where East met West and its archaeology reveals a blend of Greek, Turkish, Persian, Chinese and Indian influence that is found nowhere else in the world.

The above mentioned already have a very strong pulling factor for tourists all around the world flying in, provided it is safe.

[Galen]

If what is remained from the Bamiyan Buddhas is like the picture posted by Jessie, then I do no think they should be rebuilt. There is already a Buddha structure inside even though it has been de-faced. The place will continue to attract tourist and pilgrims as it is a holy site. Building a new Buddha image may make the place nicer but the history may be erased. It is good to know how the Buddha became how it is now. It is a great reminder of how far Buddhism has spread and also the change in the country's culture has made Buddhism to degenerate in that area.

The money could be better used to produce a book with it's history and accounts of how it became to how it is now. Then, with new technology, maybe a hologram can be used to show how the original Buddha looks like.

[fruven]

Rebuilding the Bamiyan Buddhas would bring many benefits not just the tourism. It would provide jobs because there would be demands for labours, and subsequently food would be needed to feed the workers, thus farmers would be needed, and so on. There are many multipliers effect on local economy if such a huge project would be undertaken.

From the side of spirituality the merits of restoring a representation of Buddha is uncountable it would bring tremendous peace and harmony to the region.

In my opinion, the Buddha statues that have been destroyed by the Taliban in the area should be rebuilt.

It should be rebuilt because it will benefit the people in that area especially when we are talking about places in Afganistan where Dharma is so scarce. It will only benefit rather than have negative impact if the statues are being rebuilt there.

Secondly, it will do good for Afganistan government to rebuild the statues as the place was declared as a world heritage site. It will benefit the country's economy pocketed from tourism whereby thousands of Buddhists will flock into the country to visit and pay homage to the site. It would also look good for the government too as being liberal and respectful of other faiths.

This is good attitude to have. It would show others that there is respect of others.

[dondrup]

In my opinion, the Bamiyan Buddha structures should be reconstructed. It is very meritorious to rebuild the Bamiyan Buddha structures.  The people of that region need these Buddhas!  The Buddhas were heavily damaged due to their heavy negative karma!  It was due to the lack of merits that Afghanistan has gone through difficult periods of conflicts, wars and disharmony.  It is a blessing in disguise that UNESCO has declared the site as a World heritage site.  With this protection, the Bamiyan Buddhas shall remain to bless the region and its people as well as all the tourists who visit the site!

[RedLantern]

Two collosal stone Buddhas that had stood near Bamiyan,Afghanistan for about 1,500 years was destroyed by the Taliban 10 years ago. There are a lot more important things to help the Afghanis with right now, but it is important to respect the locals too. After the tragic incident event ,one of the locals ,a devout Muslim himself was upset with the Taliban for destroying the Buddhas because 'they had watched over our village for  centuries"If they are to be restored, it should with the aim of promoting religious dialogue and understanding.

[pgdharma]

I would say that it is better to set up a museum which can preserve the fragments and rich artifacts to remind people about the tragic history of the Bamiyan Buddhas and the empty niches should be left as monuments. Since UNESCO does not support the rebuilding of the Buddhas but the Afghan government do want to ensure the statues and their cultural importance is understood and remembered instead of spending so much to reconstruct or rebuild the statues, it is better to build a new one. Building a new one will not be as costly as reconstructing and restoring the destroyed statues and the rest of the money can be better spent on housing or electricity for that region.