A clay mould in the form of a Bodhi leaf has been unearthed at the ruins of the ancient Cuu Dien Tower on Nghen Mountain in Ha Tinh province (Photo:baomoi.com)Hanoi (VNA) - A clay mould inthe form of a Bodhi leaf, dating back 700 years, has been unearthed among other valuable antiques at anexcavation site in the central province of Ha Tinh.
Nguyen Tri Son, Director of the Ha Tinhprovincial museum, told Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaperthat a group from the museum as well as experts from the Hanoi National Universitydiscovered various antiques at the ruins of the ancient Cuu Dien tower on NghenMountain in Can Loc district, Ha Tinh province.
Among the most intact objects was a claymould in the form of a Bodhi leaf. The mould measures 0.3m in height and 0.08min thickness. The middle of the leaf has images of three towers.
According to Son, some historical recordsfound in the area reveal that the Cuu Dien tower used to have nine storeys,measuring more than 100m. The tower collapsed in the 35th Canh Hung Year(1774).
He said the mould might have been used tomake clay bricks to build the tower.
A brick with patterns of dragons indicating of Tran Dynasty (Photo:baomoi.com)At the 100sq.m foundation of the tower,experts found various clay objects such as bricks, tiles and decorativepatterns.
Some of the bricks, measuring 0.05m inthickness and 0.2m in width, had Chinese characters carved on them.
Researcher Dang Hong Son said the charactersrecorded the storey that the bricks were placed on. Some bricks also havepatterns of dragon heads indicating the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400).
The findings confirm that the Cuu Dien towerdedicated to Buddha did exist and will be useful to recover the tower infuture.-VNA
VNA
