The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two massive statues of Guatam Buddha carved into the side of a sandstone cliff in central Afghanistan. They were blown up with dynamite in 2001 when the Taliban deemed them as idols. The statues were 115 and 174 feet tall.
When asked about the ancient statues, the man who ordered their destruction, Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar, said, “I did not want to destroy the Bamiyan Buddha. In fact, some foreigners came to me and said they would like to conduct the repair work of the Bamiyan Buddha that had been slightly damaged due to rains. This shocked me. I thought, these callous people have no regard for thousands of living human beings - the Afghans who are dying of hunger, but they are so concerned about non-living objects like the Buddha. This was extremely deplorable. That is why I ordered its destruction. Had they come for humanitarian work, I would have never ordered the Buddha's destruction.”
The destroyed statues were the largest to show a standing Buddha in the world. (There is a larger statue of Buddha, the Leshan Giant Buddha, but this one is seated.) A video of the destruction can be seen here.
