The My Son Sanctuary is about 50 km southwest of Hoi An in the province of Quảng Nam. Between the 4th and the 13th century, My Son was the religious and cultural center of the Champa Kingdom. Over a period of ten centuries, the Cham constructed more than 70 tower temples here.
The My Son Sanctuary is the most important construction of the My Son civilization. With the displacement of the Cham people to the south, the sanctuary fell into oblivion.
My Son means “Beautiful mountain”. The sanctuary covers an area of 142 ha and lies in a forested valley basin. My Son is embedded in a beautiful landscape with crystal clear streams, which is only accessible via a narrow valley.
From the 10th century onward, only the surrounding inhabitants knew about the existence of the sanctuary. In the early part of the 20th, French archaeologists rediscovered and documented the sanctuary.
During the Vietnam War, the valley served as a retreat for the Vietnam. About 50 temples were completely destroyed during the bombardments by the Americans.
Today, the entire area is still marked by bomb impacts everywhere. Traces in the existing temples and steles still bear witness to the volley of gunfire.
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More InformationSince 2002, the UNESCO, as well as private German donors, support the reconstruction work. The temples are constructed in fired brick with stone pillars and decorated with sandstone bas-reliefs. The reliefs depict scenes from Hindu mythology.
The most famous tower was 24 m high and decorated with sculptures of lions and elephants. Our knowledgeable guide Pham Thi Thu Ba draws our attention to many details and gives us an excellent insight into the culture of Cham.
But the reconstruction is exceptionally difficult. It is not yet known how the Cham made their bricks. The seamless construction of the Cham requires extremely smooth surfaces. Attempts to create the bricks by hand have failed.
So one decided to cut the bricks with modern cutting machines. The use of mortar has led to moss growth in this climate so that meanwhile one desists from using it.
The temples were influenced by the Hindu culture. From the 9th century, the Cham tended more and more toward Buddhism, so that the sanctuary lost their symbolic power.
Since 1999, the My Son Sanctuary is protected by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage.
The place still exerts a mystical and spiritual influence on us, even if there is still a lot to be restored.
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Their culture is awesome. No matter which civilization, people did incredibly structures with totally accurate without the modern machines. I was there when I travel to Da Nang with my family last month and to be honest, they are wonderful
Thank you very much. It is a fascinating place to visit