In 2001, Taliban declared the Buddhas of Bamiyan as false idols and blew them up. The 1,500-year old Buddhas had been carved into a cliff’s face in Afghanistan and once enjoyed the title of tallest sculptures in the world. An Afghan who took part in the attack recalls, “These idols have been gods of the infidels, declared Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, in marking the statues for destruction. First they fired at the Buddhas with tanks and artillery shells. But when that was ineffective, they planted explosives to try to destroy them. When the Buddhas finally crumbled, Taliban fighters were firing weapons into the air, they were dancing and they brought nine cows to slaughter as a sacrifice. The monuments had endured for centuries, only to disappear in a matter of weeks.”
Now meet Zhang Xinyu and Liang Hong, a Chinese couple that is very generous and kind. They have been exploring the world together and made use of a 3D laser light show in order to restore one of the two scared Buddha statues. They are a millionaire couple and full-time adventurers from Beijing who were quite touched after hearing about the destruction of these ancient relics and decided to resurrect the statues. Mr. Zhang said, “We knew very little about Afghanistan before we came here. Our entire image of this strife-torn nation was merely about poverty and suicide attacks.”
Ms. Liang said, “When I saw the smile on the people’s faces in Bamiyan, I knew what we have done is quite meaningful, not only for the Bamiyan people but also for ourselves. We wanted to find a way to help the people there and showing the Buddha by image projection was the best we could do.”
This amazing resurrection project is a part of couple’s multi-nation tour that they are carrying out along the ancient Silk Road.
