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My Son sanctuary - A World Cultural
Heritage Site |
Belonging to Duy Phu
commune, Duy Xuyen district, My Son sanctuary is 45
km west of Hoi An, 70 km South of Da Nang.
In 1898, a French soldier named M.C. Paris, found out My Son
temples in a secret narrow valley among dense forests. Not
long after that, scientists and archeologists from French Far
Eastern Archaeological Scholar Institute came and researched
epitaphs, architecture and sculptures in My Son. They revealed
that My Son was the most grandiose vestige in Viet Nam,
continuously built for more than 1000 years. My Son temples were
built from the 4th century under the reign of king Bhadravaman, until late 13th
century, and early 14th century under the reign of King Jaya
Simhavaman III (Che Man).
My Son used to be a group of more than 70 temple towers. Each
temple has a typical architecture which reflects a historical
stage of the Champa kingdoms. Most of the architecture and
sculptures were influenced by Indian culture. Most of the
temples point to the East, the sun direction. Champa people
thought that the East was the place where the gods lived. Only a
few towers point to the West or both East and West this meant
that when the king died he would be conferred as a god and
present his affection to his ancestor.
Due to natural disasters and war-related damages, only about 20
temple towers still remain in My Son. However, most of the
remaining epitaphs, archaeology analysis and relies preserved in
My Son and some domestic museums such as Danang Cham museum,
Ho Chi Minh historical museum sufficiently make us dramatically
admire the art of architecture and sculpture of the ancient
Champa people. Especially, up to now, the technic of sticking
building materials without any mortar in construction of temple
towers in My Son still a secret stimulating fondness for
curiosity, discovery and research of scientists as well as of
everyone.
Although My Son is not as majestic and spectacular as Angkor (
Cambodia), Pagan
(Myanma), Borobudua ( Indonesia)..., My Son possesses an
important role in South East Asia’s civilisation of art. In
December 1999, Hoi An ancient town along with My Son were
recognised as the world cultural heritages by UNESCO. Hundreds
of thousands of tourists and researchers visit My Son every
year.
Dong Duong institute of Buddhism
Dong Duong Buddhism institute lies in Binh Dinh commune, Thang
Binh district, about 60 km Southwest of Da Nang and about 40km
Northwest of Tam Ky city.
Built in 875 under the dynasty of King Indravaman II, this was
the Buddhist institute of the Champa kingdom. It was one of the
most important relics of Buddhist architecture in the Champa
kingdom. Due to war and time, what remains today is only a piece
of a low wall, some architectural decorative pieces and the
foundation of the old building. However, scientific research
documents and archaeological artifacts in Dong Duong show that
it was once one of the most typical Buddhist architecture of
Champa kingdom in Southeast Asia with seminaries and a Buddhist
alter. The altar is in a rectangle shape 330 meters long, 240
meters wide. In 1901, the archaeologist, L. Finot found 229
relics, one of which was a bronze Buddhist statue, 1m high and
influenced by Indian style-Amaravati. It’s one of the most
beautiful statues in South-East Asia, now displayed in Ho Chi
Minh History Museum.
Chien Dan towers
Chien Dan
towers represent a group of three towers and each
door points to the East. Their foundations are all square in
shape, wide-based with narrow steps to the top. There isn’t
decoration on the body of the towers, but on the top of the
towers were decorated an edging line with many masks of Kala. In
Chien Dan, many sculptured artifacts with high value were
discovered, especially the Yoni alter and "human animal" statues
such as Naga snake, Hamsa grouse, Garuda Bird, Gajasiha
elephant, etc which were influenced by Chanh Lo sculpture style
(in the end of 11th century, early 12th century). The towers lie
beside national highway 1, about 5km to the north of Tam Ky
city.
Khuong My towers
Khuong My towers in Tam Xuan I commune is located near the National
Highway No.1 and 2 km away from Tam Ky city to the Southwest. Khuong
My towers is a group of three towers in line from the north to
the South. Their specific architecture reflects a traditional Champa style with three levels, the upper level representing the
stereotype of the lower one with a sandstone top.
Khuong My Towers show the first style of Champa architecture
influenced by the Khome design (curled and deep carved leaves
and lozenges representing diagonal and stylish flowers). This is
the specific design of Khome art dated from the 9th and 10th
centuries.
Here, archaeologists had found many original sculptures (at
present are displayed at Da Nang Cham Museum) and many jars of
hundreds years old.
Bang An tower
Located on Dien An commune, Dien Ban district along the 609
road, 30km to the South of Da Nang and about 12km to the West of
Hoi An city.
According to an inscription found here, this tower was built in
the 12th Century by king Bhadravaman II and was named as Linga
Paramesvara (meaning the supreme God - a name for Siva), as an
offering for God Siva. This is the only tower which has an
octagonal face- a unique structure- resembling no other towers
which still exist.
Coming to Bang An tower you will see huge Linga, 21.5m high and
standing against the vast sky. It symbolizes a continuous moving
cycle of life.
Ancient Capital of Tra Kieu (The Lion Citadel)
Sinhapura Tra Kieu (the Lion Citadel) was once the capital city
and the political center of Champa, serving in that capacity
from the 4th to the 11th centuries.
According to the bibliography, Tra Kieu earlier was surrounded
by a fairly grandiose system of citadel and rampart, defence
works, fortress and temples in oriental military style.
Tragically, through many centuries, so far what remains now is
foundation of broken walls. Based on the discovered foundation,
it is estimated that the imperial city‘s circumference was about
4 km. In the front of the imperial city, there were many
beautiful sculptures architecture which majestically located on
the low hills. Siva saint and Visnu, who were considered as the
Guardian angels of Champa dynasty at that time, were worshiped
in all the temples in Tra Kieu imperial city. Prominently
standing out from the architectures and sculptures in Tra Kieu
are lively stony lion and elephant statues. Now, some of these
are displayed at Da Nang Cham museum and Tra Kieu Church |
.: quangnamtourism.com.vn :.
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