The site is also testimony to the tragic destruction by the Taliban of the two standing Buddha statues, which shook the world in March 2001. on this subject: Cultural Landscape and Archaeological ...

The buddhas are seen in Afghanistan "mainly as a way to increase tourism, especially from Japan and China", Marquis said. The Bamiyan valley was put on UNESCO's list of endangered areas in 2003.

Around 30,000 Greek bhikkhus had arrived in Anuradhapura from the monasteries of Alasanda (the city of the Yonas, Alexandria in present Afghanistan) according to Geiger’s Mahavamsa (chapter XX1X (39)) ...