BAMIYAN, Afghanistan, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Taliban group dynamited the two giant Buddha statues in Afghanistan's central Bamiyan province 20 years ago, but the sandstone carvings are still popular as Afghans commemorated 20th anniversary of the monuments' destruction with pledge to preserve cultural heritages.
"Although the Taliban dynamited the two statues of giant Buddha, the monuments are still popular as many people annually get together in Bamiyan to commemorate the giant Buddhas in ceremonies where the speakers express their anger over vandalizing the world's cultural heritages," Bamiyan provincial governor Sayed Anwar Rahmati told Xinhua Wednesday.
Once the tallest Buddha statues and reportedly built in the sixth century, the destruction of the 55-meter-tall and 38-meter-tall Buddhas by the Taliban militants in March 2001 has been condemned globally.
Rahmati pledged that his provincial administration is committed to preserving and repairing all the historical monuments and cultural heritages in Bamiyan province with the support of national and international agencies.
To pay tribute to the destroyed Buddhas and denounce the destroyers, hundreds of people including boys and girls held a lantern-lit procession, which led to the front of destroyed Buddhas cliff on Tuesday evening.
The participants at the procession also arranged a 3D projector to return the destroyed Buddha to the spectators and those gathered to denounce the monuments' destruction.
To express their dismay over Buddhas' demolition, the participants in a ceremony held on Tuesday night to commemorate Buddhas' destruction called upon Taliban to preserve cultural heritages, besides urging the government and world community to help rebuild the hurt Buddhas. Enditem
