My Son Sanctuary: Ruins from the Champa Empire

The complex is regarded as monumental as other renowned relics in the Southeast Asia region such as Angkor, Bagan and Borobudur. My Son relic complex was registered in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage in 1999.

Kazik (Kazimiers – Kwiatkowski) – an accomplished architect who has had years working at My Son, once said: “Old Cham people have put their spirit into stone and soil. They were able to create a grandeur and sacred My Son on the basis of nature. This is a priceless museum of architecture and sculpture of humanity that it would take a long time for us to fully grasp”.

Cultural exchanges, the Indian civilization adaption, including religious beliefs. Hinduism gradually strengthened its role in Champa society, influencing all aspects of socio-political life. My Son became the very religious center of the ancient Cham kingdom.

During the 4th to 13th centuries CE this unique culture, on the coast of contemporary Viet Nam, owed its spiritual origins to the Hinduism of the Indian sub-continent. Under this influence many temples were built to the Hindu divinities such as Krishna and Vishnu, but above all Shiva.

Although Mahayan Buddhist penetrated the Cham culture, probably from the 4th century CE, and became strongly established in the north of the kingdom, Shivite Hinduism remained the established state religion.

In the 4th century, in Bhadravaman dynasty, My Son valley was chosen as the holy city - an important religious and belief center of Champa kingdom.

The location of the valley is to the west of Biblical Simhapura (Tra Kieu) - the center of power, the east of Dai Chiem (Hoi An) sea estuary - Cham Island commercial center. The complex of sacred land, sacred mountain, sacred city, sacred estuary is an important complex in the formation and development of My Son as well as of Amaravati states (Quang Nam today).

My Son is the place to build temples, perform rituals and worship, the place confirm with the spirit of the reign of the Cham kings.

The towers are constructed in fired brick with stone pillars and decorated with sandstone bas-reliefs depicting scenes from Hindu mythology. Their technological sophistication is evidence of Cham engineering skills while the elaborate iconography and symbolism of the tower-temples give insight into the content and evolution of Cham religious and political thought.

The bricks stick together with glue, the grout is extremely small and tight yet very solid

The Yoni is worshiped inside My Son Champa temple

The Yoni is worshiped inside My Son Champa temple

As a religious center of the ancient kingdom of Champa, My Son had an important spiritual place in the community being mental support of the ancient Cham people. My Son is a unique work of art which has been valuable up to now. Every brick, every corner of the towers definitely held distinctive historical and cultural values of the wonders created by human physical strength.

Time and the wars have severely impaired the relic. Still, the remainder in My Son plays a critically important part in world historic architectural heritage.