Today there was a group of tourists from India visiting My Son. They walked in groups, quietly and attentively, looking interested. I thought, perhaps they were returning to their familiar place.
I recall a story from nearly 30 years ago, as a tour guide when taking the Indian Ambassador delegation to visit this ancient Champa temple complex.
It is said that the ambassador's wife wore all white when she visited the relic.
Arriving at the entrance to Tower C1 - the main temple, she took off her sandals outside. I, the guide, had to go in first and... of course wear shoes. Seeing this, I quickly ran to the door, bowed my head and apologized. There were many people in the group who were of the same religion as Brahman.
Everyone in the group quietly took off their shoes and walked in solemnly and reverently, performing their rituals. I felt like they had returned to their own church.
Every step, every bow of the head, every tilt of the shoulder, shows a respectful and gentle attitude, as if they were facing their gods and ancestors.
And I had a memorable day!
Today, my friend from Canada and I stood hidden inside the B1 tower - the main temple. I did not do the interpreting work so I silently watched the two Indian guests perform the ceremony.
The old man held a bottle of water in his right hand, pouring it slowly over the linga, the water slowly flowing down the yoni just enough for the prayer. The woman standing next to him also raised her right hand to support the man's hand and recited the prayer. Around, many people took off their sandals and shoes, stood solemnly and murmured prayers...
The story suddenly reminded me of the other side of Truong Son - Laos with the ancient capital Luang Prabang - where there are many relic sites with architecture such as temples, shrines, pagodas... The relic management board here has a full guide board of places to put shoes, personal belongings... to help visitors have a good attitude, suitable for the space of the relic.
The interaction of visitors “revives” the old spiritual space. Visitors come dressed neatly, shoes, sandals, hats and caps are carefully removed and put away. I suddenly thought that perhaps we need another code of conduct, in addition to the safety and security regulations for heritage and artifacts that have long been in place.
That is, with artifacts placed in certain heritage spaces, especially natural heritages and cultural life, which tourists come to visit with the intention of worshipping, learning, and performing religious rituals, it is necessary to create conditions for them to interact. That will change the heritage space, breathe life into the heritage and make the heritage come alive again.
Perhaps, instead of just groups of tourists coming to take pictures, look around and observe curiously, we need to build, protect and embellish more real-life cultural heritage spaces, bringing tourists to experience and enjoy the opportunity to understand more about our cultural heritage, from the practice of solemn beliefs and faiths.
This will also make visitors resonate with the heritage conservation work, with the spirit of “heritage in everyone’s hands”. I remember in 2002, when we excavated Khe The stream bed with the buried architecture in the stream bed, a female visitor asked to join the excavation team. She also equipped herself with tools and followed the method of the excavation leader. She completed the whole day’s work...
Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/chuyen-vun-quanh-di-tich-3146935.html
Comment (0)