In 2018, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind visited the My Son relic site (Duy Xuyen District, Quang Nam).

Wonder of mankind

The tower temples in My Son are examples of Champa religious architecture. With a history of construction and continuous development for nine centuries, the temples here have rich architecture. The temples represent the greatness and purity of Mount Meru (India).

Most of the temples and auxiliary buildings are built of brick with a delicate technique. The decorative patterns on the stone pillars along with the round statues and sandstone reliefs are carved based on Hindu myths.

The harmonious combination with sophisticated carvings on the brick walls outside the tower has created the beauty of the My Son temple complex, with the most typical features of Champa art.

Kazik, a talented architect, said: “The ancient Champa people sent their spirituality into the soil and rock; they knew how to rely on nature to create the magnificent, profound, majestic My Son. This is a priceless art and sculpture museum of humanity.”

Development of brilliant Champa civilization

In the 4th century, under the Bhadravaman Dynasty, My Son valley was chosen as an important religious and belief center of the Champa kingdom.

In My Son, King Bhadravaman built temples, performed ceremonies, and worshiped. The temple towers were built to commemorate the great victories and conquests. It is also the place for kings to rest after death, their souls are gathered here with the gods of Hinduism, especially the God Shiva, who is considered the founder of the Champa kingdom.

At that time, the belief of God Shiva - the creator and destroyer of Hinduism was merged with the king to worship at My Son. The first temple was built of wood, worshiping god - King Bhadresvara, which is a combination in this form (combining the name of the God Isvara - also known as Siva - with the name of King Bhadravarman).

The maritime trade route between Champa and medieval countries spanned nearly ten centuries, with the formation and changes associated with the development of the Champa kingdom. Along with the number of tower temples built, My Son became a place marking the brilliant and unique development of Champa art.

My Son Sanctuary, a wonder of mankind.

The wars in the 11th century between Champa and other countries destroyed the Champa kingdom and temples in the My Son area. King Harivarman V and Giaya Indravarman III built additional small temples in My Son. In 1149, Giaya Harivarman I ascended the throne, established a new capital in ViJaya (Do Ban, Binh Dinh), restored churches and built two large temples in My Son.

The next king Indravarman IV, did not build much, but inlaid gold and silver on the roofs of temples. The amount of precious metal used amounted to 1,470 kilograms.

My Son Sanctuary has an important spiritual position for the residential community, the spiritual support of the ancient Cham people. It is a unique work of art that is valuable to this day.

Indian experts support the restoration of the core area of My Son Sanctuary In 2014, the Governments of Vietnam and India signed a Memorandum of Understanding on "Preserving and embellishing the world cultural heritage My Son". India funded the conservation and embellishment of tower groups at My Son with a total budget of about US$2.5 million. Over the years, effectively promoting heritage conservation in association with extensive international cooperation, has contributed to My Son's existence and promotion of the good values today. Indian experts support to restore, preserve and embellish My Son holy land. Nguyen Cong Khiet, deputy head of the My Son Management Board, said that after five years (2017-2021) of implementation, the project of preserving and embellishing My Son has achieved certain results. Regarding the repair technique, Indian experts still use the method of polishing the tile surface and using tree resin as a binder. This is the method used by Italian experts to restore the G tower group under the tripartite cooperation program of the Government of Italy - Vietnam - UNESCO.

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