Burnes, Alexander: Travels into Bokhara: containing the narrative of a voyage on the Indus from the sea to Lahore, ... and an account of a journey from India to Cabool, Tartary and Persia ; performed by order of the supreme government of India, in the years 1831, 32, and 33 (Band 2) (London, 1835)

160

IDOLS OF BAMEEAN.

chap. vi.

figures are cut in alto relievo on the face of the hill,
and represent two colossal images. The male is
the larger of the two, and about 120 feet high. It
occupies a front of 70 feet; and the niche in which
it is excavated extends about that depth into the
hill. This idol is mutilated ; both legs having been
fractured by cannon; the countenance above the
mouth is also destroyed. The lips are very large ;
the ears long and pendent; and there appears to
have been a tiara on the head. The figure is covered
by a mantle, which hangs over it in all parts, and
has been formed of a kind of plaster; the image
having been studded with wooden pins in various
places to assist in fixing it. The figure itself is
without symmetry, nor is there much elegance in
the drapery. The hands, which held out the mantle,
have been both broken. The female figure is more
perfect than the male, and has been dressed in the
same manner. It is cut in the same hill, at a dis-
ance of 200 yards, and is about half the size. The
annexed sketch will convey better notions of
these idols than a more elaborate description. The
square and arched apertures which appear in the
woodcut represent the entrance of the different
caves or excavations ; and through these there is a
road which leads to the summit of both the images.
In the lower caves, the caravans to and from Cabool
generally halt; and the upper ones are used as gra-
naries by the community.

I have now to note the most remarkable curiosity
in the idols of Bameean. The niches of both have
been at one time plastered, and ornamented with '