3D return for Bamiyan Buddha destroyed 20 years ago in Afghanistan (1/4)

A three-dimensional projection of the 56 metres-high Salsal Buddha is seen at the site where the Buddhas of Bamiyan statues stood before being destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001, in Bamiyan province, Afghanistan on March 9, 2021. (Photo/Agencies)

The statues had been carved from the cliff in the early 6th and 7th Centuries AD, when Buddhism was the region's dominant religion.

The ancient sandstone carvings were once the world's tallest Buddhas, but they were lost when the Taliban blew them up 20 years ago.

A three-dimensional projection of the 56 metres-high Salsal Buddha is seen at the site where the Buddhas of Bamiyan statues stood before being destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001, in Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan on March 9, 2021. (Photo/Agencies)

A three-dimensional projection of the 56 metres-high Salsal Buddha is seen at the site where the Buddhas of Bamiyan statues stood before being destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001, in Bamiyan province, Afghanistan on March 9, 2021. (Photo/Agencies)

People watch a three-dimensional projection of the 56 metres-high Salsal Buddha at the site where the Buddhas of Bamiyan statues stood before being destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001, in Bamiyan province, Afghanistan on March 9, 2021. (Photo/Agencies)