#23: Most-Interesting Story Behind a Great Postcard From Afghanistan

he back of the postcard reads: "Afghanistan: Tattered clothing and fear-filled eyes of an Afghan refugee reveal war-zone trauma".
It is an old vintage postcard of the era of Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and as far as I remember the above photo of a young Afghan girl with hypnotizing deep sea-green eyes was featured on the cover of National Geographic magazine, June 1985 issue. Photographer Steve McCurry took the shot at Nasir Bagh Refugee Camp in Pakistanduring December 1984, while Afghanistan was still at war with the huge Soviet Union. She was among the many faces that McCurry photographed.

Her photo was later selected for the magazine's cover. There was NO name to the face though.

Seventeen years later, McCurry joined a National Geographic Television crew on a journey through Pakistan and Afghanistan to search for the ‘cover girl’. There were questions to be answered: Did she survive the war? If she’s alive, she’d probably have returned to Afghanistan and be in her late 20s or early 30s.

The name of the girl was a secret till now. The team started their journey from Nasir Bagh refugee camp in Pakistan where the initial photo was shot in 1984. The team found her to be living in a remote region in Afghanistan. Her identity was confirmed using Biometric technology which matched her IRIS patterns to those of the photograph with almost full certainty. She vividly recalled being photographed.

The fame and symbolic character of her portrait were completely unknown to her. Modern pictures of her were featured as part of a cover story on her life in the April 2002 issue of National Geographic and was the subject of a television documentary entitled Search for the Afghan Girl, which aired in March 2002. In recognition of her, National Geographic set up the Afghan Girls Fund, a charitable organization with the goal of educating Afghan girls and young women. In 2008, the scope of the fund was broadened to include boys and the name was changed to Afghan Children's Fund.

So here is the photo of the cover of National Geographic Magazine, April 2002 Issue just for your interest:

Postcard #16: Buddha Statue in Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley

Hello!

A beautiful postcard from Afghanistan which is rich with cultural heritage and is definitely a history lesson. The Afghanistani postcard features one of the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the country - "Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of Bamiyan Valley". The postcard shhows the landscape of Bamiyan Village with a huge Buddha statue of Bamiyan Valley in the background.

There are two statues in Bamiyan Valley which were built during 6th century. The statues represent a classic blended style of Indo-Greek art. The two giant statues, named Vairocana and Sakyamuni, measure 55 and 37 metres high respectively and are the largest examples of standing Buddha carvings in the world.

The Buddha statues of Bamiyan Valley gained World fame when Taliban Government in Afghanistan destroyed the Buddhas using demolitions and tank barrages. The re-construction of the Buddhas is on the cards but nothing has been done so far. After the destruction of Buddha statues, 50 caves were also revealed. 12 of these caves wall oil-paintings have been discovered. Japanese experts believe that these oil-paintings were painted between 5th and 8th century.

In Sep 2008, another statue of 19-metre-long "Sleeping Buddha" has been found nearby. It depicts the pose known to Buddhists as the scene where Buddha passed into Nirvana.

Postcard #5: The Great Mosque of Herat, Afghanistan

Here is another amazing, unique, gorgeous and hard-to-find postcard from a hard-to-find country Afghanistan. Afghanistan is located in the North-West of my beloved country Pakistan. Because of the decades long fighting in the country, millions of Afghans have migrated to Pakistan and most of the country has turned to ruins.  There are hardly any collectors or swappers left in the country.

The Afghanistan postcard features the beautiful "Great Mosque of Herat" or "Friday Mosque of Herat". Herat is a city located in Western Afghanistan and because of its fertile land, Herat is traditionally known for its wine. Its is the 2nd largest city of Afghanistan after Kabul. The city of Herat was also sumbitted as one of the properties on the tentative list for registeration as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.

The back of the above Afghanistan postcard shows that the postcard was published in 2001 by Afghan Art & Culture Saloon (AACS) in Kabul, Afghanistan. It is my first postcard from Afghanistan on the blog. I have some others as well including a beautiful Afghan postcard of a Buddha Statue in Bamiyan Valley, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. I will soon be sharing that postcard as well with you. If any of you want any Afghanistan Postcards for their collection, I can give it a try to find some for them. "Which one" remains an answered question till the time when any of you need it. ;)

Does anyone of you want a postcard from Afghanistan for your collection???

The construction work on the present Great Mosque of Herat was started initially by Ghurid ruler Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad b. Sam in 1200AD and afterwards completed by his successor and brother Shihab al-Din. In 13th century Cengiz Khan pillaged the province and the building fell to ruin. Rebuilding and renovations work/ programs were undertaken by the Kart rulers in 1306AD and again after the devastating earthquake in 1364AD.  It was repeatedly repaired, renovated by various rulers until a new mosque was built in Herat and the importance of the old mosque was over-shadowed. Little was left of the "Great Mosque of Herat" by the mid of twentieth century when a major reconstruction and renovation work was carried out after 1945AD. The mosque was expanded and decorated in its present shape. 

I hope that I have done some justice with this beautiful piece of architecture by searching hard and adding the above details about it.