Go Cay Thi B relic in the Oc Eo - Ba The national special heritage site. (Photo: atv.org.vn)The OcEo - Ba The national relic site in the southern province of AnGiang mostly covers Oc Eo Town, Thoai Son District. Parts of the siteare over 2,000 years old.
Therenowned relic is believed to have been first excavated by French archaeologistLouis Malleret in 1944, and is believed to have been a prosperous commercialport of the once-powerful Phu Nam Kingdom two millennia ago.
Artefactsfound in the area show an advanced civilisation with developed arts andcrafts including jewellery and pottery making, as well as a system of canalsand various temples and tombs built with bricks and stones. Several ancientRoman artefacts have also been uncovered at the site over the years.
OcEo culture was at its peak in the southern delta from the first to seventhcenturies.
Throughseveral archaeological excavations, Malleret also identifiedan ancient citadel and identified it as an ancient town, also known as OcEo port.
Thename Oc Eo was given by him after the location of Oc Eo mound in Thoai Son whenthis relic was discovered and announced in the early 1940s.
Inaddition to being found in Thoai Son, Oc Eo cultural archaeological relics werealso discovered in Tri Ton and Tinh Bien districts and several other townsin the province.
The relics inthe region are extremely rich and diverse in terms of both style andmaterial, giving an insight into the period’s religion, residencies,architecture, burial areas, ancient canals and waterways.
Withsuch historical and cultural value, the heritage site has been recognised bythe Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism as a national heritage sitewith three clusters of relics, including two monuments of architecture andart. The stone and the four-armed Buddha were certified in 1988, and the twoarchaeological sites of Nam Linh Son Tu and Go Cay Thi in 2002.
TheDirector of the Oc Eo Cultural Relic Management Board, Nguyen Huu Gieng, saidthe new preservation plan was recently announced by the board under theprovincial People's Committee's authorisation.
Theplan will be implemented over 433 hectares, as identified in the SpecialNational Monument Ranking Profile.
It aimsto protect unearthed archaeological discoveriesand the site relics, boost research and surveys, aswell as expand the scope of archaeology to compile dossiers, edit recordsand clarify ideas related to the region, especially those connectedto Oc Eo culture and civilization.
Italso aims to preserve, upgrade and promote the Oc Eo - Ba The specialnational heritage to become an archaeological research zone to helpidentify the values of the site, contributing to socio-economicdevelopment, culture and tourism.
Theplan will also help connect the relic site with importantdestinations in An Giang and the Mekong Delta region to create specifictourism products in terms of history, culture, tourism, riverecology, rural livelihoods, and tourism.
Giengsaid the plan for preserving and restoring Oc Eo - Ba The was approved by thethen Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
"Thisprovides a legal basis for removing obstacles and limitationsof the previous plan. It is an effective tool for planning managementand urban development investment in the area of Oc Eo Town and Thoai SonDistrict," he said.
Itis expected that in November 2021, An Giang will hold a ceremony to officiallyannounce the Government's approval of the preservation plan.
Accordingto the plan, a relic site on the foothills of Ba The Mountain(Zone A) with a total of 144 hectares will be targeted including ProtectedArea I (50ha) and Protected Area II (93ha).
TheOc Eo field area (Zone B) covers 289ha, including Protected Area I (IB),which is 151ha and Protected Area II (IIB), which covers 138ha.
Seeking UNESCO recognition
DeputyPrime Minister Vu Duc Dam has recently assigned theMinistry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to take prime responsibility andcoordinate with the Vietnam National Committee for UNESCO to submit asummary report on the Oc Eo - Ba The archaeological site to the UNESCOWorld Heritage Centre requesting its inclusion on the tentative list of WorldHeritage Profiles.
Theministry will guide the People's Committee of An Giang to compile a scientificdossier on the relic site in accordance with regulations.
Forsome time, the ministry has been striving to complete a dossier on therelic site to submit to UNESCO for recognition as a World Cultural HeritageSite.
Inlate 2012, it assigned the Vietnam Institute for Culture and Arts tocomplete and submit the dossier to UNESCO. Several workshops have beenheld to gather expert advice for the dossier.
"TheOc Eo - Ba The special national relic site contains numerousoutstanding global values," according to experts and scientists ata workshop to discuss nominating Oc Eo - Ba The asa World Cultural Heritage Site, held by the People's Committee of AnGiang in collaboration with the Southern Institute of Social Sciencesand the Archaeological Association.
AssociateProfessor Dang Van Bai, Vice Chairman of the National Council for CulturalHeritage, said that the Oc Eo - Ba The site was proof of the unityof the cultural diversity of Southeast Asian countries.
"Thisis also a cultural space that has been playing a particularly important rolein the meeting, exchanging and acculturating between major culturesin the world (East and West). In addition, the Oc Eo culture is also a linkbetween the two most brilliantly developed civilisations in humanhistory, China and India," he said.
Meanwhile,Prof. Tong Trung Tin, Chairman of the Vietnam ArchaeologicalAssociation, said that the site showed a strong interactionwith other world major cultures such as Buddhism and Hinduism, as well aswith Chinese, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures.
Researchersand scientists have highlighted the important role of Oc Eoculture in the formation of ancient nations in the Southern region inthe early centuries of the common era.
From thelate 1990s to 2011, many research programmes with local funding andinternational cooperation were conducted at the site. Initial resultshelped recreate the basic appearance of an ancient city with religiousarchitectural and residential relics, making a significantcontribution to promoting cultural heritage.
ViceChairman of the An Giang Provincial People's Committee Tran Anh Thu saidthat along with Vietnam's eight other World Heritage Sites that hadbeen honoured by UNESCO, the creation of a scientific dossier for the sitedemonstrated the country's great contribution to enriching humanity'scultural heritage, creating a national brand, and introducing a beautiful imageof the country to the world.
AnGiang in southwest Vietnam has an abundance of historical and cultural relics,and authorities and local residents have always paid much attention to culturaltourism.
TheOc Eo site not only receives many researchers and archaeologists but alsoattracts many local and foreign tourists who come to see what they view as oneof the jewels in the country’s cultural crown. With convenient transportinfrastructure, a mysterious beauty and some of the most brilliant culturalheritage in the nation, the destination will create investment opportunitiesfor those who desire to preserve the site as one of the special features of Vietnam./.
VNA
