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Situated on the ancient Silk Route, The two most prominent statues were the giant, standing Buddhas, measuring 55 and 37 meters (180 and 121 feet) high respectively, the largest examples of standing Buddha carvings in the world. They were cultural landmarks for many years, the site being listed among UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

This is the ruins of the Female Statue that stood with a height of 37 meters.

The barbarian Taliban banned all forms of imagery, music and sports, including television. There is reason to believe that this was in accordance with a strict interpretation of Islamic law. On March 6, the London Times quoted Mullah Mohammed Omar as stating, "Muslims should be proud of smashing idols.

The Islamist Taliban government decreed that the statues, which had survived intact for over 1,500 years, were idolatrous and unislamic. During the destruction, Taliban Information Minister Qudratullah Jamal lamented that, "this work of destruction is not as easy as people might think. You can't knock down the statues by shelling as both are carved into a cliff; they are firmly attached to the mountain." The two largest Buddhas faced dynamite and tank barrages and were demolished after almost a month of intensive bombardment.

What stupidity, stubborness, intolerance and illiteracy can bring about on the pages of history. An art master-piece converted into a ruins thanx to the fanatics, fundamentalists and ultra-conservatives... Humanity grieves the loss of the Buddhas of Bamian.

To make things even worse, today; Mawlawi Mohammed Islam Mohammadi, Taliban governor of Bamiyan province at the time of the destruction, "enjoys" the membership of Afghanistan's parliament and close ties to the ruling "personalities(?)".