The spirit of the Giant Buddha statues must arise on March 10, as the world commemorates the destruction of the Great Buddha statues and those of many in Bamyan. The vacant niches portray the barbaric and inhumane act to the 1500 years old civilization, the symbols of artistic architecture & rich civilization, withstood confronting the catastrophic environmental traits and human affront over centuries, were vandalized with the pretext of threat to Islamic virtues and being offensive to Islam ten years back on this very day.
Born in a rich family of Gautama on the borders of Nepal and India in 562 BC, He was named Siddhartha Gautama. His father Suddhodana was a leader of a large clan called Shakya but at his early age, his mother Queen Maya passed away. When his father was foretold of Gautama’s life that the Prince would be either a great military conqueror or a great spiritual teacher, king Suddhodana preferred his son to dominant the world by his might and raised the boy in great luxury insulating him from knowledge of religion and human suffering. It was not late until the age 29, when the prince having little experience of the world outside the walls of his opulent palace was shocked by the sight of an aged man, a sick man, and then a corpse once on his journey. The stark realities of old age, disease, and death seized and sickened the Prince. He then left all his luxuries at home, shaving his head off, and changing his clothes for a beggar’s robe beginning his quest for enlightenment.
He devoted the rest of his life in search of true life meaning reaching enlightenment. Gautama achieved Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya and gave the first sermon at Sarnath. He spent his remaining life in travelling, teaching, & spreading Buddhism. Buddha means Awakened/ Enlightened spiritually. Buddha’s followers called him with this name and believed anyone following Buddha’s principles or codes of life with sincere & true sentiments; will reach the destination _ being awakened spiritually.
Although the statues gone in the winds, the industrious architecture & the dynamic oracles of the times gone by have been earning the reverence & admiration they deserved, manifesting the significance of the region’s history. The association of the indigenous locals with Buddha statues is eternal and worthwhile, and no tyrant can ever sway this mystical association as being beyond their intellect; thereof, every attempt will remain a mere illusion.
March 10, 2011 was the day, I would never forget, when the locals of Bamyan gathered to commemorate the destruction of the great Buddha Statues. This was a true sign of respect to the architects & labors who carved the statues with their devotion, passion and pride. The statues are gone, but the myth of our association with them is beyond any detestation and ill-thoughts. This sentiment of respect comes from our religion, which teaches us to show reverence to other religions, honor the sacred places and values of other religions so that the entire mankind lives under the shades of peace, happiness and fraternity.
And I favor the idea to reconstruct one of the statues and keep the other one to show the ignorance and self-centered approach of the tyrant who for no reason treated ruthlessly with the symbol of international heritage.
March 11, 2011
