The Impact on Local Communities For the people of Bamiyan, the Buddhas were not just relics from the past—they were part of daily life and local identity.

For the Buddhas of Bamiyan, there is no scarcity of donors. Japan, China and other countries with large Buddhist populations have offered their help, but this raises thorny religious issues.

Unesco is to convene an international meeting in Afghanistan next month to discuss the reconstruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Rebuilding these symbols of the country's illustrious heritage has ...

Artist Hiro Yamagata plans to commemorate the fallen 6th century Buddhas in Afghanistan with a laser-light installation set for 2007.

"The possibility of setting up the Bamiyan Museum, which can preserve these fragments, rich artifacts, as well as tell the people about the [tragic] history of the Bamiyan Buddhas," Aoyagi said.

Twenty years after the destruction of the ancient Bamiyan Buddhas, all that remains are empty niches—and memories.

Scholars have asked UNESCO to intervene after a Taliban minister began digging for treasure underneath the ruins of the Bamiyan Buddhas.

His project has already employed over 50 people for salvaging and has also helped to train students from Bamiyan University in ancient stone-cutting techniques.

The setting is surreal. In the background are the former Buddhas of Bamiyan, the gigantic 115- and 175-foot statues blown to rubble by the Taliban last year as symbols of heresy.