This is a very long post. I initially posted this on Reddit and a Redditor told me about this site so I could post it here.
Here's the link to the OG post: GUYS I FOUND A CULT : I_FOUND_A_CULT
Here's the link to the updated section: Update • u/I_FOUND_A_CULT
My father was an Afghan soldier during the Soviet-Afghan War. He died yesterday in Sweden at age 76 due to old age. During the war somewhere in June 1989, his Mi-24 attack helicopter was shot down by a Mujahideen group while it was going for an attack mission in Kandahar. He and his co-pilot survived because the helo crashed into the side of a cave and literally got stuck but they both suffered injuries. His arm was bleeding and his co-pilot dislocated a shoulder. The cave was deep and they decided to hide in it because they crashed into Mujahideen territory and if they were caught, they would've been beheaded or disemboweled. My father said that as they entered the deepest part, they realized they were walking on stairs and he pushed upon a heavy stone door in front of it thinking they could hide behind it. They assumed that they were entering a Mujahideen base or prison but i'll continue with my father's exact words: "There were statues. One was a man with a dog's face, one was a man on top of a cow, the other was a man with a multi-headed lion, another was a fanged man with deer horns and the other was a rain cloud. At the center of it, there was a horned figure with sharp eyes and in Arabic, the words read "Maebad Shaitan" (temple of the devil/satan)". My father and his co pilot who were devout Muslims exited the place and waited for almost a day before an Afghan Army rescue team found them and evacuated them. For some reason, the co-pilot died months later (presumably suicide due to his children being killed by Mujahideen shelling). My father and my mother and me entered Pakistan as refugees after 1992 due to the Mujahideen taking over the country and persecuted people who sided with the government. We ended up taking a flight to the US before seeking refuge in Sweden in the early 2000s. I didn't believe whatever he told me but after his health started deteriorating last month, I asked myself if my father who was illiterate when it come to mythology and history could coincidentally come up with those statues who match many deities worldwide. The dog faced man statue could be Anubis, the man on top of a cow/bull is Yama, the man with a multi headed lion (im guessing its a dog) because it matches with Hades, the deer horned man, the rain cloud and the other horned figure still remain a mystery to me. What could it be? And not to mention that it said "Temple of the Devil/Satan". What exactly is going on here? I am curious. Can someone help me find out those 3 figures. One is a deer horned man, the other is a rain cloud and the figure in the center of it is a horned figure with sharp eyes (I'm assuming this is the main guy or something).
Update:
Apparently someone messaged me and told me that they know a friend who currently resides in Kabul and has heard of that cave. The anonymous person who reached out to me said they will try to contact their friend again but their friend did mention that there was a cave somewhere at the border between Helmand Province and Kandahar Province which was well known to the locals as "House of Akshiba". Its somewhere near a Tajik village but the current location is unspecified. According to their friend, the locals describe the cave as a dungeon with statues of animals and deities. The sad news is that this friend mentioned that the cave was looted by the Harakat Inqilab i-Islami (a Mujahideen group) and the Taliban in the years to come and that the cave collapsed either through an explosion or excavation by looters.
The thing which I don't get is who or what is Akshiba. I am not fluent in Pashto or any other Afghan language so I would really appreciate it if someone could tell me what it is. Even that Afghan friend of mine has no idea what is the meaning although I do suspect he may have misheard it or something. Another thing I don't get is how was the cave not looted before? Considering that Afghanistan was ruled by war lords for thousands of years especially in the mountainous and rural regions, its impossible for such a well known cave (according to his friend) to not get looted. Also this would be REALLY sad if the reports of the cave being looted and destroyed was true
Here's the link to the OG post: GUYS I FOUND A CULT : I_FOUND_A_CULT
Here's the link to the updated section: Update • u/I_FOUND_A_CULT
My father was an Afghan soldier during the Soviet-Afghan War. He died yesterday in Sweden at age 76 due to old age. During the war somewhere in June 1989, his Mi-24 attack helicopter was shot down by a Mujahideen group while it was going for an attack mission in Kandahar. He and his co-pilot survived because the helo crashed into the side of a cave and literally got stuck but they both suffered injuries. His arm was bleeding and his co-pilot dislocated a shoulder. The cave was deep and they decided to hide in it because they crashed into Mujahideen territory and if they were caught, they would've been beheaded or disemboweled. My father said that as they entered the deepest part, they realized they were walking on stairs and he pushed upon a heavy stone door in front of it thinking they could hide behind it. They assumed that they were entering a Mujahideen base or prison but i'll continue with my father's exact words: "There were statues. One was a man with a dog's face, one was a man on top of a cow, the other was a man with a multi-headed lion, another was a fanged man with deer horns and the other was a rain cloud. At the center of it, there was a horned figure with sharp eyes and in Arabic, the words read "Maebad Shaitan" (temple of the devil/satan)". My father and his co pilot who were devout Muslims exited the place and waited for almost a day before an Afghan Army rescue team found them and evacuated them. For some reason, the co-pilot died months later (presumably suicide due to his children being killed by Mujahideen shelling). My father and my mother and me entered Pakistan as refugees after 1992 due to the Mujahideen taking over the country and persecuted people who sided with the government. We ended up taking a flight to the US before seeking refuge in Sweden in the early 2000s. I didn't believe whatever he told me but after his health started deteriorating last month, I asked myself if my father who was illiterate when it come to mythology and history could coincidentally come up with those statues who match many deities worldwide. The dog faced man statue could be Anubis, the man on top of a cow/bull is Yama, the man with a multi headed lion (im guessing its a dog) because it matches with Hades, the deer horned man, the rain cloud and the other horned figure still remain a mystery to me. What could it be? And not to mention that it said "Temple of the Devil/Satan". What exactly is going on here? I am curious. Can someone help me find out those 3 figures. One is a deer horned man, the other is a rain cloud and the figure in the center of it is a horned figure with sharp eyes (I'm assuming this is the main guy or something).
Update:
Apparently someone messaged me and told me that they know a friend who currently resides in Kabul and has heard of that cave. The anonymous person who reached out to me said they will try to contact their friend again but their friend did mention that there was a cave somewhere at the border between Helmand Province and Kandahar Province which was well known to the locals as "House of Akshiba". Its somewhere near a Tajik village but the current location is unspecified. According to their friend, the locals describe the cave as a dungeon with statues of animals and deities. The sad news is that this friend mentioned that the cave was looted by the Harakat Inqilab i-Islami (a Mujahideen group) and the Taliban in the years to come and that the cave collapsed either through an explosion or excavation by looters.
The thing which I don't get is who or what is Akshiba. I am not fluent in Pashto or any other Afghan language so I would really appreciate it if someone could tell me what it is. Even that Afghan friend of mine has no idea what is the meaning although I do suspect he may have misheard it or something. Another thing I don't get is how was the cave not looted before? Considering that Afghanistan was ruled by war lords for thousands of years especially in the mountainous and rural regions, its impossible for such a well known cave (according to his friend) to not get looted. Also this would be REALLY sad if the reports of the cave being looted and destroyed was true
