At the conference, held by the Quang Nam People’s Committee incollaboration with the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian andVietnamese scientists presented reports on the structure and materialsused to build My Son, a cluster of abandoned and partially ruined Hindutemples.
Russian scientists’ research and sampleanalyses revealed that the materials used to build the temples havedifferent origins and characteristics from baked materials and thebricks are unevenly baked and contain sand and plant matter.
Prof. Sergey Nefedkin said My Son is not only Vietnam’s heritage butthe world’s heritage and therefore, conducting research for itspreservation and restoration is critical.
Themain goal of the research team, the professor said, is to prevent decayfrom natural elements and uncover materials that can be used to restorethe original form of the temples.
The professor proposed hardening the surfaces with special chemicals to protect layers of brick beneath the surface.
Vu Ngoc Hoang, Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee’sCommission for Popularisation and Education, said the Russianscientists’ results were very encouraging.
He said that the restoration must maintain the ancient characteristics of the relics.
Le Van Thanh, Vice Chairman of the Quang Nam People’s Committee, saidthe province has been coordinating with sectors and scientists todiscover ancient secrets in building temples to preserve and restorestructures of the Champa culture, returning them to their originalvalue.
Quang Nam is home to manyinternational-level Champa architectures. The most notable arethousand-year-old towers, reflecting the phenomenal creativity of theChampa culture.
Temples and clusters of templesin Chien Dan, Khuong My, Bang An, the Dong Duong Buddhist Institute, MySon are attracting scientists to discover the ancient secrets.-VNA