Endangerd Ancient Buddhist Monuments of Gandhara
Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 2:11 pm
Let us Document Ancient Buddhist Monuments of Gandharan Swat Valley Before they are Lost Forever
It was two years ago that I first visited Swat Valley in ancient Gandhara region, and I saw the destruction done by the religious fanatics there. Government neglect, and insensitivity of the locals was already slowly destroying these historical sites, but they became a special target for Taliban when they took over.
Swat is a beautiful place. Queen Elizabeth II called the valley of Swat in Northern Pakistan, "the Switzerland of the east." The beauty and the solitude of the valley is such that many soldiers of Alexander the Great settled here. This ancient valley of old Gandhara region was an important learning and spiritual center of the Buddhist monks.
The valley is filled with ancient monuments of Buddhist and Hindu Shahi period.
Around 2007, Taliban gained complete control of Swat Valley, and started destroying Buddhist monuments. Most important among the was Buddha of Jahanabad. It is the second biggest rock carved Buddha after the Buddhas of Bamian, which were destroyed by Afghan Talibans. Though the local Taliban in Swat tried to demolish the structure in 2007, they only managed disfigure the upper portion of Buddha’s face. Though they were repelled from the valley in 2009, but they are still present there in small pockets and conduct attacks.
Islamic fundamentalists are triying to destroy these monuments in their areas of control. Recently they also destroyed the irreplaceable monuments of Babylon and Ninevah in Iraq and Levant. They are doing the same in Gandhara region. Unlike Iraqi monuments, the Gandharan monuments of Swat are not that well documented.
An effort must be made to document that important treasure of history before it is lost forever.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ka ... hist-monum
It was two years ago that I first visited Swat Valley in ancient Gandhara region, and I saw the destruction done by the religious fanatics there. Government neglect, and insensitivity of the locals was already slowly destroying these historical sites, but they became a special target for Taliban when they took over.
Swat is a beautiful place. Queen Elizabeth II called the valley of Swat in Northern Pakistan, "the Switzerland of the east." The beauty and the solitude of the valley is such that many soldiers of Alexander the Great settled here. This ancient valley of old Gandhara region was an important learning and spiritual center of the Buddhist monks.
The valley is filled with ancient monuments of Buddhist and Hindu Shahi period.
Around 2007, Taliban gained complete control of Swat Valley, and started destroying Buddhist monuments. Most important among the was Buddha of Jahanabad. It is the second biggest rock carved Buddha after the Buddhas of Bamian, which were destroyed by Afghan Talibans. Though the local Taliban in Swat tried to demolish the structure in 2007, they only managed disfigure the upper portion of Buddha’s face. Though they were repelled from the valley in 2009, but they are still present there in small pockets and conduct attacks.
Islamic fundamentalists are triying to destroy these monuments in their areas of control. Recently they also destroyed the irreplaceable monuments of Babylon and Ninevah in Iraq and Levant. They are doing the same in Gandhara region. Unlike Iraqi monuments, the Gandharan monuments of Swat are not that well documented.
An effort must be made to document that important treasure of history before it is lost forever.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ka ... hist-monum