The "divine" road will further complete the value of My Son Temple Complex.

To further identify the unique values of this road, Quang Nam Newspaper had an interview with Associate Professor, Dr. Ngo Van Doanh.

* After many years of researching Cham culture and the Champa kingdom, have you ever seen or known of a "divine" road like the road east of tower K leading to the recently excavated My Son temple complex?

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Van Doanh : Actually, other Cham relics still have roads leading to the tower entrance such as Poklong Garai (Ninh Thuan) or Banh It tower (Binh Dinh)... but these roads are often very short and steep because there is only one cluster of towers.

However, at My Son it is completely different because this road leads to a complex of many towers, so it is longer and has existed for a longer time. The road in My Son is interesting and valuable here.

Archaeological results show us that the road was certainly formed over many centuries, starting with the construction of the first temples, followed by other temple complexes later.

The path leading from Tower K to the My Son relic has been excavated. Photo: VL

We discovered a road attached to the K gate tower - dating back to the 12th century, so we can determine that this is also the age of the road. But it is not excluded that there used to be another road underneath this road, over hundreds of years, the old road was damaged, the ancient Cham people rebuilt it. And the road discovered today is the trace of the old road before.

It is also possible that there was a road leading to the center of the relic at another location but we have not discovered it yet. In general, there are many conjectures, however, the orientation of the road from Tower K is the main road that the ancient Cham people used to go to the center of the relic in the direction of the river (following Khe The stream) is still more accurate.

* From the results of discovering the road, what should we do next to preserve and promote the architectural value of this road, sir?

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Van Doanh : At the conference reporting the results of the archaeological exploration and excavation of the architectural ruins of the road leading to the east of Tower K of My Son relic site that took place recently, we agreed to preserve and restore the discovered architectures, then plan to continue the archaeological excavation of the remaining part of the road, and on the basis of the restoration, we will continue to restore and preserve the remaining parts.

Associate Professor, Dr. Ngo Van Doanh (middle) talks with Dr. Le Dinh Phung (left) and Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Quy (right) at the excavation site. Photo: VL

We should not dig it up and leave it there, where the rain and wind will ruin it. We should preserve it as we go through the archaeology. We must proceed step by step carefully and in a coordinated manner, this is something everyone knows. The problem is whether we have the financial means to preserve and restore it or not.

Of course, because My Son Temple Complex is a World Cultural Heritage, the next step or how to do it, My Son Management Board and relevant local departments of Quang Nam must propose to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, including asking for UNESCO's opinion. As for how to restore and in what way, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will have the opinion, it cannot be done arbitrarily. Once it has been discovered, it must be preserved and maintained, it cannot be left like that!

First of all, we must determine that the greatest and foremost value of My Son is the temples and towers. The discovery of the road helps us have more new and vivid documents.

The discovery of the road, as well as the previous discovery of strange artifacts and architecture, clearly proves that My Son certainly has many mysteries hidden underground that we have not yet been able to fully understand throughout the nearly thousand-year history of these architectural works.

* Thank you for this conversation!

In March 2024, the archaeological excavation project in the area east of Tower K was implemented by the My Son Cultural Heritage Management Board in coordination with the Institute of Archaeology (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), with a total area of ^220m2 . In the excavation area, the structure of an architectural section of the eastern approach road to Tower K, 20m long, in the East-West direction, deviated 45º to the north, was revealed.

The total length of the road from the foot of the K tower is 52.5m, with an overall width of 9m, including the roadbed and two brick walls on both sides. The roadbed is 7.9m wide, with a flat surface, made of sand, gravel and compacted bricks, with a thickness of 0.15 - 0.2m. Experts have determined that this is the main ceremonial road to the temple complex of the ancient Cham people.

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