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Buddhas of Bamiyan

6th century · 6th century

The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two monumental standing Buddha statues, 55 and 38 metres tall, carved into a cliff in the Bamiyan valley of central Afghanistan in the 6th century. Painted and plastered, they stood near a large Buddhist monastic complex on a branch of the Silk Road. The Taliban destroyed them with explosives in March 2001, an act condemned around the world.

Buddhas of Bamiyan
Image: James Gordon · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 profile

BuddhismLegacy

Mentioned in 1 state history

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996-2001)

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Buddhas of Bamiyan. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/buddhas-of-bamiyan
MLA
“Buddhas of Bamiyan.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/buddhas-of-bamiyan. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Buddhas of Bamiyan.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/buddhas-of-bamiyan.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Buddhas of Bamiyan’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/buddhas-of-bamiyan (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻