Word: buddha
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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When the Taliban dynamited two 1,700-year-old Buddha statues carved into a sandstone cliff in Afghanistan, it destroyed prized symbols of the country's rich pre-Islamic heritage and enraged scholars and archaeologists worldwide. But it might not have finished the job. A third Buddha--the so-called sleeping Buddha--may yet exist in Bamiyan, buried just feet from where the other Buddhas once stood. A 7th century Chinese traveler left notes describing the sculpture as measuring up to 650 ft. in length and reclining in a state of Nirvana. (The taller of the two upright Buddhas...
...Buddha's army rises to save the suffering...
...Over the next two-and-a-quarter hours, a dozen or so members of this Buddha's army rise to deliver emotional testimonials to the power of their religion and their leader. A young woman describes a litany of health woes?debilitating skin disease, a broken leg suffered while snowboarding, stomach problems?that all miraculously disappeared one month after joining Kenshokai. Another woman speaks of how her son was born with a hole in his heart but was cured by the powers of Kenshokai. She adds exultantly: "We must all help Asai for the rest of our lives...
...high on the Kabul government's list of priorities. But this week, the U.N. is sponsoring a meeting in Kabul of archaeologists, scholars and possible donor nations to repair the country's war-shattered culture, starting in Bamiyan. Experts say that to restore one of the standing Buddhas could amount to $50 million. A dig for the reclining Buddha would cost a fraction of that...
...Hussain would like to see all three Buddhas reunited. As a kid, he scampered around the hermit caves, and lazed with his friends on top of the biggest Buddha, admiring the lapis and gold rimmed frescoes of the ancient monks?and seeing his own Asiatic features mirrored in their faces. "The people who made these Buddhas looked like Hazaras," says Hussain. "That's why the Taliban hated them so much." Forced to help destroy the two standing statues, Hussain says he's ready to find their sleeping companion. If he succeeds, Bamiyan's Buddhas can perhaps finally rest in peace...