7 interesting facts about My Son Sanctuary that not everyone knows

Existing for more than 1,000 years with the ravages of war and the erosion of time, however, the temples still retain their own uniqueness, making the relic site mysterious and sacred with interesting things that not everyone knows.

The discoverer of My Son Sanctuary

In 1885, My Son relics were discovered by a group of French soldiers. In 1898 - 1899, two researchers of the French Telecommunications, L.Finot and L.de Lajonquière, and architect and archaeologist H. Parmentier came to My Son to study the inscriptions and Cham architecture and sculpture. Until 1903-1904, the most basic documents on My Son inscriptions and architecture were officially published by L.Finot.

My Son relics were discovered by a group of French soldiers in 1885.

The only evidence of a vanished Asian civilization

In December 1999, at the 23rd session of the World Heritage Committee held in Marrakesh (Morocco), My Son Temple Complex was selected by UNESCO as one of the World Cultural Heritages according to criterion 2 as a typical example of cultural exchange and according to criterion 3 as the only evidence of a vanished Asian civilization .

My Son Sanctuary is the only evidence of a lost Asian civilization.

Place of Baptism of Champa Kings

My Son is the Hindu holy land of the Champa Kingdom . Every king, after ascending the throne, came to My Son to perform the holy ceremony, make offerings and build temples. In addition to the ritual function, helping the dynasties approach the Saints, My Son was also the cultural and religious center of the Champa dynasties and the burial place of powerful kings and priests.

My Son Sanctuary is the cultural and religious center of the Champa dynasties.

The only place that has been continuously restored for nearly 7 centuries

In the early 7th century, King Sambhuvarman built the temple with very durable materials, which still exist today. Later kings restored the old temples and built new ones to dedicate to their gods.

My Son is the only site of Cham art that had a continuous development from the 7th to the 13th century.

The deity worshiped is BHADRÉSVARA

The main temples in My Son worship a set of Linga or an image of the god Siva - the protector of the Champa kings. The god worshiped in My Son is Bhadrésvara, the king who founded the first kingly line of the Amaravati region in the late 4th century, combined with the name of the god Siva, becoming the main belief in worshiping gods - kings and royal ancestors.

The god worshiped at My Son is Bhadrésvara, the king who founded the first royal line of the Amaravati region.

Unique architecture

My Son Sanctuary is a complex of quadrilateral towers. The architectural art is greatly influenced by Indian style, including many tower clusters, each cluster has a main tower in the middle and many lower sub-towers located around, the tower gate facing the sun - East. The tower roof is structured in many overlapping towers, solid on top and hollow on the bottom, gradually getting smaller as it goes up, creating a soaring shape. The outside of the tower doors are carved and decorated with many beautiful patterns such as floral motifs, animals, Kala - Makara images, Apsara dancers, musicians... all very lively and flexible.

My Son Sanctuary is a complex of temples with unique architectural features.

The tower clusters at My Son are rotated clockwise.

According to research, there seems to be a mandatory rule when building Champa temples: no matter where they are, on a hilltop or on flat land, the main door of the temple must face east to receive the morning sunlight. Because sunlight is a symbol of vitality, of the origin of life brought by the god Siva. However, in the current My Son sanctuary, there are up to 5 tower clusters with the main door skewed to the southeast: cluster H; cluster E, F; cluster G; cluster A, A' and cluster B, C, D.

Architectural diagram of My Son Sanctuary

To be precise, the land on which the temple complexes were built was rotated. This is not difficult to understand according to the principle of Wrench Tectonic, a geological method of the Intraplate Deformation method. According to this principle, the lithospheric block sandwiched between two left-slip faults (Sinistral) is always broken into small blocks; these small blocks are always rotated clockwise due to the coupling force created by the two left-slip faults.

Champa temples, no matter where they are located, on a hilltop or flat land, the main door of the temple must face east to catch the morning sun.

It is coincidental and interesting that the results of modern geodynamic research show that the land between Thu Bon River and Que Son town, Quang Nam (including My Son) is a blocky mountainous area created by 6 left-slip fault systems. These faults are 50-70km long, in the Northeast - Southwest direction, extending from the coastal plain of Quang Nam to the upper Dak Mi river along Highway 14. Two of these faults play an important role in creating the rotation of the broken lithosphere blocks in My Son, namely Khe Vinh Trinh fault cutting through the Northwest and Tra Kieu fault cutting through the Southeast of My Son. The clockwise rotation causes the main entrance of all the temples in My Son to move to the Southeast, making it impossible for the morning sunlight to shine directly into the towers. Source: https://tapchicongthuong.vn/7-su-that-thu-vi-ve-thanh-dia-my-son-khong-phai-ai-cung-biet-73963.htm