Word: bamiyan
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...aspiring tourist mecca, the Oriental Buddha Kingdom Theme Park in the lush mountains of Leshan is doing a pretty woeful job. Its main attraction, a 37-meter replica of one of the famed Bamiyan buddhas destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, is mysteriously covered by a huge cloth, with only its giant feet poking out. When tourists try to approach the statue, security guards shoo them away. Instead, would-be guides shove pictures of the park's lesser draws under the few visitors' noses?perhaps a tour of a couple of fake, mildewy buddhas or a trip to a viewing...
...molders under its cloth cover, China's Bamiyan buddha seems almost as cursed as its Afghan predecessor. But the reasons for its condition are peculiarly Chinese. Conceived of by the grandly named Sichuan Oriental Buddha Kingdom Co., the Bamiyan replica was to have been the prime exhibit in a privately owned Buddha theme park advantageously nestled in a UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes Leshan's own ancient buddha, the largest such stone statue in the world. But during the Bamiyan replica's construction, Oriental Buddha's workers allegedly destroyed dozens of the famed Mahaoya tombs, architectural marvels that date...
...Ironically, the man who conceived of the Bamiyan replica, Oriental Buddha's chairman Liang Enming, was once a vice manager of Leshan's Cultural Relics Bureau, charged with protecting the very tombs he has allegedly wrecked. In the mid-'90s, Liang?whose handlers said he wasn't available to answer TIME's questions?left public service to head a private company and saw his chance when the Taliban eradicated their own cultural heritage. "This replica," he said at the time, "will make it possible for those who have never seen the statue to look for themselves at its great beauty...
...house next to the theme park. She and other locals claim that the trees are being planted to cover up evidence of destroyed tombs before high-level visitors examine the site. In the meantime, guards roam the park's perimeter, keeping unwanted visitors from peeking in. As for the Bamiyan replica itself, its stone eyes remain hidden behind a massive veil, unable to witness the brouhaha its birth has created...
...part mad scientist and always a sprightly and engaging storyteller. This search takes her, inevitably, to Sar-e-Sang mine in northern Afghanistan, the main source of lapis. "The first 20 meters would have given the stones for the Egyptian tombs," she writes. "A little later was where the Bamiyan Buddhas got their haloes." Deeper down was "where Titian may have got his sky from?a whole art history in one little pathway...