Bamiyan niches

In the Bamiyan valley of central Afghanistan, a long cliff of soft rock faces the green valley floor. Into this cliff, in the sixth and seventh centuries, Buddhist communities cut two colossal standing Buddhas, about 55 and 38 metres tall, along with hundreds of caves for monks, shrines and meeting halls. Bamiyan lay on routes linking Central Asia with India, and Chinese pilgrims, including Xuanzang in the seventh century, described the figures and the monasteries.

The Buddhas were carved roughly from the rock and finished with mud and plaster, then painted; many of the caves around them were decorated with wall paintings of Buddhist subjects, among them some of the earliest known paintings made with oil-based binders.

In March 2001 the Taliban destroyed both statues with explosives. What remains are the two empty niches, their outlines still showing the shape of the figures that stood there. UNESCO inscribed the Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley in 2003, placing it at once on the list of sites in danger. Visitors today stand at the foot of the empty niches, which are themselves a monument, with the caves above and the fields and poplars of the valley spread below them.