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UNESCO to launch 6 key cultural projects in Bamyan province
 [Khaama (Afghanistan)] The United Nations...a formerly good idea gone bad... Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will launch six key cultural projects in the central Bamyan province of Afghanistan. The provincial government media office said the projects will be launched in the next Afghan calendar year which includes construction of a cultural center, reconstruction of the historic Gholghola city, strengthening the porches for Buddhas located in the west, awareness regarding Hajigak iron ore exploration and its effects on historic monuments, research on local tradition and public awareness regarding the historic monuments. According to the local officials, UNESCO’s cultural chief in Afghanistan Mr. Masanori Nagaoka informed regarding the launch of the projects during a meeting with the provincial governor Mr. Tahir Zahir. Nagaoka welcomed Mr. Zahir’s recommendation to include the destruction date of Bamyan Buddha as a cultural catastrophe day in the world calendar and promised to share his recommendations with UNESCO chief. This comes as an event was organized to mark the 14th anniversary of Buddhas destruction by the Talibs which was attended by bigwigs, including UNESCO’s cultural chief for Afghanistan Mr. Nagaoka. The Bamiyan ...a place in Afghanistan that used to have some historically interesting statues of the Buddha carved into a mountainside. Then the holy men showed up and now all they have is some big holes... Buddhas were destroyed after the Talibs group blew up the world’s two largest standing Buddhas -- one of them 165ft high, earlier in 2001. Among the Afghanistan’s historical remains, Taliban’s biggest targets, literally and figuratively, were the two monumental Buddha statues carved out of the sandstone cliffs in central Afghanistan. The destruction work concluded in almost three weeks period which sparked global objection. Taliban group tried to destroy the Buddhas by firing artillery rounds towards the Buddhas but later used explosives after they did not achieve any results by firing artillery. One stood nearly 180 feet tall and the other about 120 feet high and together they had watched over the dusty Bamyan Valley since the sixth century, several centuries before Islam reached the region. The Buddhas of Bamyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km (143 miles) northwest of Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the Worldand didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... at an altitude of 2,500 meters (8,202 ft). Built in 507 A.D, the larger in 554 CE, the statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. Posted by: Fred 2016-03-14 |
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