Sharing with Tien Phong on January 4, the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture said that three of the museum's artifacts were recognized as National Treasures, including the Phong Le dancing Shiva relief, the Uma Chanh Lo relief, and the Thap Mam Dragon statue.
These are all unique works, typical in theme and artistic style, reflecting the stages of development of Champa religious art.
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| The Dragon Statue of Thap Mam is 158 cm high, 158 cm long, 61 cm wide, made of sandstone. Photo: Thanh Hien. |
The Shiva dancing relief in Phong Le was discovered by a French civil servant Camille Paris in Phong Le around 1890 along with a number of other artifacts and brought to Tourane Park - now the location of the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture.
The work depicts Lord Shiva in a dancing pose, also known as Nataraja (king of dancing). This is a form that symbolizes absolute power and is the most perfect expression of Lord Shiva.
With its unique cultural and artistic value, the work has been introduced at many international exhibitions such as the exhibition at the Guimet National Museum of Asian Art (Paris, France) in 2005, and at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts (Texas, USA) in 2009.
“The Phong Le Cham relic site (Hoa Tho Dong ward, Cam Le district, Da Nang city) is where this artifact was discovered. Through archaeological excavations from 2011-2018, it was shown that this is a large-scale Cham relic site, with many evidences of the convergence and development of Champa culture in the locality. Currently, this relic has been ranked by the Da Nang People's Committee as the only archaeological relic in the city to date and has a project to preserve and promote the value of the relic," informed a museum representative.
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| Relief of Shiva dancing in Phong Le. |
The Uma Chanh Lo relief was found at the Chanh Lo relic, Quang Ngai in 1904 and then brought to the museum in 1938. The relief is intact, depicting the goddess Uma in a dancing pose and is the largest artifact discovered in Quang Ngai in particular and Champa relics in general depicting the image of this goddess.
According to Indian mythology, goddess Uma is the wife of god Shiva (Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu are the three supreme gods in Hinduism) known for her power to protect and eliminate all evil forces that threaten the world.
Goddess Uma has many incarnations, with different names such as Parvati, Devi, Sati, Kali, Durga... The work shows typical characteristics in a Champa sculpture style - Chanh Lo style (around the 11th-12th century) with strong innovations in terms of framework, lines, postures and creative motifs on clothing, jewelry, and hats, contributing to making the works come alive and have their own unique expressiveness.
Meanwhile, the Thap Mam dragon statue was discovered at the Thap Mam hill relic - Binh Dinh in 1934 and brought to the Museum in 1935.
The work shows the characteristics of Thap Mam style in the large round statues of sacred animals, exaggerated, stylized or combined with other sacred animal images, creating a mythical impression rather than a realistic one.
The sculpture of this period was influenced by Khmer stone sculpture - Bayon style (Cambodia) or Dai Viet art of the Ly Dynasty. The Dragon Statue of Thap Mam currently displayed at the Museum of Cham Sculpture is the largest, most elaborately carved, detailed and intact artifact among the dragon-themed works in Champa sculpture.
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| Uma Chanh Lo relief is 165 cm high, 162 cm wide, 37 cm thick at the Museum of Cham Sculpture. |
According to the Cham Sculpture Museum, with these three newly recognized national treasures, the museum now has 12 national treasures. Each month, the museum welcomes more than 10,000 visitors, mainly international visitors.
Thanh Hien
Source: https://tienphong.vn/dieu-it-biet-ve-3-co-vat-tai-da-nang-vua-duoc-cong-nhan-bao-vat-quoc-gia-post1706660.tpo
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