India to support My Son heritage site restoration

The Government of India has allocated 2.5 million USD to assist Vietnam in restoring and preserving the My Son Sanctuary world cultural heritage site in the central province of Quang Nam, according to the provincial Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.
The Government of India has allocated 2.5 million USD to assist Vietnamin restoring and preserving the My Son Sanctuary world cultural heritagesite in the central province of Quang Nam, according to the provincialDepartment of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

India will provide specialists as well as necessary equipment and material for the restoration and preservation efforts.

Meanwhile, the province is projected to spend roughly 20 billion VND(952,000 USD) on the salaries of 85 workers participating in the effortsover the next five years.

Once the religious and politicalcapital of the Champa Kingdom, My Son Sanctuary is located in a hillylandscape in Duy Phu commune, Duy Xuyen district, about 70 kmsouthwest of Da Nang city and 40 km from Hoi An city.

It comprises eight groups of 71 monument built throughout the 7th -13th centuries.

The first construction of My Son dated back to the 4th century underthe reign of Bhadravarman for the worship of God Shiva-Bhadresvara. Butlater on, the temple was destroyed.

At the beginning of the 7th century, King Sambhuvarman had it rebuilt and rebaptisedSambhu-Bhadresvara. Each new monarch came to My Son after his accessionto the throne for the ceremony of purification and to present offeringsand erect new monuments, which explains why My Son is the only placewhere Cham art flourished without interruption from the 7th to 13thcentury.

The temples in My Son were built into groups thatbasically followed the same model. Each group was comprised of a mainsanctuary (Kalan), surrounded by towers and auxiliary monuments. TheKalan, which is a symbol of Meru Mountain (centre of the universe, wherethe gods live), is dedicated to Shiva. The small temples are devoted tothe spirits of the eight compass points. In the towers, topped withtiled, covered roofs, were stocked to the offerings and sacred objectsof the pilgrims. Cham temples do not have windows, so they are very darkinside. Windows are found only in the towers.

Extensiveresearch and restoration work to preserve the Cham architecturalheritage have been carrying out since it became a world heritage sitesince 1999.-VNA

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