The Buddhas of Bamyan were two sixth-century statues of Gautam Buddha carved into a sandstone cliff in the Bamyan valley in central Afghanistan. It is believed that they were carved between the third and sixth centuries CE. They were the largest standing Buddha carvings in the world and were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Buddhas were dynamited and destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001, to international protest. Discussions and controversies about rebuilding the Buddhas and the future of the site are ongoing.