Bamiyan Buddhas - Quiz
  • 1. In which country are the Bamiyan Buddhas located?
A) Nepal
B) China
C) India
D) Afghanistan
  • 2. What happened to the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001?
A) They were painted
B) They were destroyed by the Taliban
C) New statues were added
D) Restoration efforts began
  • 3. How tall was the larger Bamiyan Buddha?
A) 75 meters
B) 55 meters
C) 45 meters
D) 38 meters
  • 4. What style of art do the Bamiyan Buddhas represent?
A) Mughal art
B) Gandharan art
C) Chinese art
D) Persian art
  • 5. What artistic influence is evident in the Bamiyan Buddhas?
A) Oceanic influence
B) African influence
C) Islamic influence
D) Hellenistic influence
  • 6. Which route was significant for the Bamiyan Buddhas?
A) Spice Route
B) Incense Route
C) Gold Route
D) Silk Road
  • 7. What cultural impact did the Bamiyan Buddhas have?
A) A symbol of war
B) An ancient palace
C) Only a local tourist attraction
D) Symbol of Afghanistan's Buddhist heritage
  • 8. Which group was responsible for the destruction of the Buddhas?
A) NATO forces
B) Al-Qaeda
C) United Nations
D) Taliban
  • 9. What kind of damage did the Bamiyan Buddhas suffer before 2001?
A) Civil war attacks
B) Erosion and natural weathering
C) Fires
D) Earthquake destruction
  • 10. Approximately when were the Buddhas of Bamiyan carved?
A) During the 10th century
B) Possibly around the 6th century
C) Around the 3rd century BCE
D) In the early 20th century
  • 11. When was the Western Buddha built?
A) Around 618 CE
B) Around 570 CE
C) In the early 9th century
D) During the 15th century
  • 12. What was the larger Buddha named?
A) Buddha of Kabul
B) Salsal
C) Gandhara Light
D) Shah Mama
  • 13. Which empire ruled Bamiyan when it was a Buddhist site on the Silk Road?
A) The Kushans
B) The Byzantine Empire
C) The Hephthalites
D) The Ghaznavids
  • 14. What natural material were the main bodies of the Buddhas hewn from?
A) Marble
B) Sandstone cliffs
C) Granite
D) Limestone
  • 15. Which emperor ordered artillery to be used against the Buddhas in the 17th century?
A) Mughal emperor Aurangzeb
B) Timur
C) Emperor Ashoka
D) Genghis Khan
  • 16. What were the upper parts of the Buddhas' faces made from?
A) Stone carvings
B) Clay models
C) Huge wooden masks
D) Metal sculptures
  • 17. When were the Buddhas inscribed as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
A) In 1987
B) In 2015
C) In 2003
D) In 1999
  • 18. What was the smaller Buddha called?
A) Queen Mother of Bamiyan
B) Shah Mama
C) Eastern Light
D) Salsal
  • 19. Which empire's influence is seen in the cave paintings around the Buddhas?
A) The Ottoman Empire
B) The Mongol Empire
C) The Roman Empire
D) The Sasanian Empire
  • 20. Who were the ruling principalities around Bamiyan when the Great Buddhas were carved?
A) The Hephthalites
B) The Mauryan Empire
C) The Roman Empire
D) The Han Dynasty
  • 21. What dynasty was ruling when Bamiyan became Buddhist again after 770 CE?
A) The Abbasid Caliphate under Al-Mahdi
B) The Ottoman Empire
C) The Qing Dynasty
D) The Byzantine Empire
  • 22. What happened to the color of the Buddhas over time?
A) They changed from white to black.
B) They turned into gold.
C) They became brighter and more vibrant.
D) Their color faded.
  • 23. What distinctive feature did the figures representing donors of the Bamiyan Buddhas have?
A) Belted jackets with a unique lapel folded on the right side
B) Tall pointed hats and long beards
C) Long flowing robes with intricate embroidery
D) Sleeveless tunics with circular patterns
  • 24. What type of attire do the male devotees in later mural paintings wear?
A) Single-layer tunics with belts
B) Double-lapel caftans
C) Long robes with sashes
D) Short jackets with no lapels
  • 25. How many caves were revealed after the destruction of the Buddhas?
A) 50 more caves
B) 70 more caves
C) 30 more caves
D) 20 more caves
  • 26. Which pigment was used in the murals showing Buddhas in vermilion robes?
A) Cadmium yellow
B) Cobalt green
C) Ultramarine blue
D) Vermilion (red mercury sulfide)
  • 27. On what date was the town of Bamyan captured by the Taliban?
A) 15 August 2000
B) 25 December 1997
C) 1 January 1999
D) 13 September 1998
  • 28. Who prevented Abdul Wahed from proceeding with his plan to destroy the Buddhas?
A) Mullah Omar
B) Michael Semple
C) Hezbe Wahdat
D) Abdul Wahed himself
  • 29. What part of the larger Buddha was targeted by rockets?
A) The groin
B) The hands
C) The feet
D) The head
  • 30. In what month and year did Mullah Omar decree in favor of preserving the Buddhas?
A) July 1999
B) December 2001
C) January 2000
D) March 1998
  • 31. What did Mullah Omar plan to establish in relation to the Buddhas?
A) An agricultural project
B) A military base
C) A tourism circuit
D) A religious school
  • 32. On what date did the Taliban announce their decision to destroy statues depicting humans in Afghanistan?
A) 13 March 2001
B) 1 March 2001
C) 6 March 2001
D) 2 March 2001
  • 33. Who proposed the restoration of the statues' heads, leading to their destruction?
A) The Taliban ambassador-at-large
B) Abdul Wali
C) An Afghan head council member
D) A Swedish monuments expert
  • 34. What reason did Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi give for the decision to destroy the statues?
A) They were damaged beyond repair.
B) The statues were causing religious unrest.
C) To strengthen ties with al-Qaeda.
D) Money was offered only for statue restoration, not for feeding children.
  • 35. Who sent a delegation led by Pakistan's interior minister Moinuddin Haider to Kabul?
A) Saudi Arabian king
B) Emir of the United Arab Emirates
C) Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf
D) Indian Prime Minister
  • 36. Who was Afghanistan's chief archaeologist in the 1970s and condemned the destruction of the Buddhas?
A) Abdul Salam Zaeef
B) Zemaryalai Tarzi
C) Pervez Musharraf
D) Kōichirō Matsuura
  • 37. Which organization constructed scaffolding within the niche in 2009 for conservation and stabilization?
A) UNESCO
B) Afghanistan Institute in Bubendorf
C) ICOMOS
D) ETH Zurich
  • 38. What was the local name for the larger Buddha?
A) Bamiyan
B) Mohammadi
C) Solsol
D) Karzai
  • 39. Who announced the possibility of restoring the smaller Bamiyan Buddha using an organic silicon compound?
A) Erwin Emmerling
B) Habiba Sarabi
C) Abdullah Hamadi
D) Bert Praxenthaler
  • 40. What restoration process is being used to restore the Bamiyan Buddhas?
A) Digital reconstruction
B) Replica construction
C) Anastylosis
D) 3D light projection
  • 41. Who estimated that roughly half of the pieces of the Bamiyan Buddhas can be put back together?
A) Liang Hong
B) Erwin Emmerling
C) Bert Praxenthaler
D) Zhang Xinyu
  • 42. What was the cost of the projector used for the 3D light projection at Bamiyan?
A) $200,000
B) $120,000
C) $50,000
D) $300,000
  • 43. How many local people attended the unveiling of the holographic statues at Bamiyan?
A) Exactly 100
B) Over 500
C) Less than 50
D) About 150
  • 44. Who initiated the carving of a 37-meter Buddha in Sichuan, China?
A) Zhang Xinyu
B) Liang Simian
C) Mahinda Rajapaksha
D) Erwin Emmerling
  • 45. Where is the Arkady Fiedler Museum of Tolerance located?
A) India
B) China
C) Poland
D) Sri Lanka
  • 46. Which pop singer's music video was shot by the ruins of the Buddhas of Bamiyan?
A) Taylor Swift
B) Aryana Sayeed
C) Madonna
D) Beyoncé
  • 47. What is the name of the 2015 song by Aryana Sayeed that had its music video shot at the Buddhas of Bamiyan?
A) Bamyan Blues
B) Ruins of Love
C) Echoes of Bamiyan
D) Yaar-e Bamyani
  • 48. In which year is the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II set during its mission involving the Buddhas of Bamiyan?
A) 1979
B) 1986
C) 1992
D) 2001
  • 49. Which Indian film depicts the destruction of the Buddhas and an archaeological team's attempts to salvage remains?
A) Lagaan
B) Ram Setu
C) Swades
D) Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
  • 50. What fictional treasure is discovered by an archaeological team in the film Ram Setu?
A) King Solomon's Mines
B) Atlantis' Crown
C) A treasure belonging to Raja Dahir
D) The Holy Grail
  • 51. Which colossal statue, described in the writings of Xuanzang but not actually discovered, is mentioned in the film Ram Setu?
A) Shiva's Trident
B) A colossal reclining Buddha
C) Vishnu's Statue
D) The Great Sphinx
  • 52. In which chapter of John Boyne's novel 'A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom' is the imaginary account of the Buddhas written?
A) AD 622
B) AD 507
C) AD 1453
D) AD 476
  • 53. What traditional game is played in the area around the ruins of the Buddhas of Bamiyan?
A) Cricket
B) Buzkashi
C) Tennis
D) Soccer
  • 54. What form of poetry did Empress Michiko compose upon her return to Japan after visiting the Buddhas?
A) Sonnet
B) Waka
C) Haiku
D) Limerick
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