Restoring Thu Thien Tower: Protecting heritage while serving tourism

The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is coordinating with consultants and contractors to implement a project to prevent degradation, restore and promote the value of the national relic Thu Thien tower, in order to protect the heritage and promote its value for tourism.

Thu Thien Tower was built around the first half of the 12th century. Since ancient times, Thu Thien Tower (in Thu Thien village, Binh Nghi commune, Tay Son district) has been recorded in Binh Dinh folk songs: Who built the ancient tower firmly/On the other side of Thu Thien, on this side of Duong Long. Thu Thien Tower is not located on a high hill but on relatively flat land and is mentioned in the work Statistics and descriptions of Cham relics in the Central region by H.Parmentier (published in France in 1909). The book Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi (National History Institute of the Nguyen Dynasty) records: "Thu Huong ancient tower in Thu Huong village, Tuong Van district, commonly known as Dong tower".

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Ngo Van Doanh in the book Ancient Champa Towers: Truth & Legend: “According to the book Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi, Thu Thien Tower also has another name, Dong Tower. However, for some reason, French researchers mistakenly called Canh Tien Tower in Do Ban Citadel Dong Tower.”

Thu Thien Tower was built around the first half of the 12th century. Photo: NGOC NHUAN

Thu Thien Tower is an architectural style of Binh Dinh, classified in the same group as Canh Tien and Phu Loc towers, although the scale of construction is smaller, the design and construction method are similar. One of the strangest things about ancient Champa sculpture discovered in Thu Thien Tower is in the back wall, carved deep into the wall on the western tower body, showing an altar surrounded and decorated with a pointed arc. Up to now, of all the Champa temple towers whose existence has been recorded, only Thu Thien Tower has this detail.

Thu Thien Tower was ranked as a national architectural and artistic relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on April 20, 1995. From 1992 - 1993 and in 2019, the province invested in restoring and reinforcing the top of the roof of Thu Thien Tower, but the problem of preventing degradation of the tower has not been completely resolved. Therefore, the province continues to invest in restoring and embellishing the Thu Thien Tower relic. The project to prevent degradation, restore and promote the value of the national relic of Thu Thien Tower was approved by the Provincial People's Committee for investment in construction in the period of 2021 - 2025, with a total capital of more than 5.4 billion VND, invested by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Institute of Monuments Conservation (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) is the consulting unit to prepare a feasibility study report for the project.

Mr. Bui Tinh, Director of the Provincial Museum, said: “This project continues to renovate and preserve the architectural components, restore the original bricks of the tower; remove weeds growing on the tower body and roof; preserve the walls and masonry blocks of the tower; build additional structures, restore the stable construction of the entire roof block... The restoration of Thu Thien tower this time aims to protect and promote the value of the relic to serve the needs of research, sightseeing, and tourism of the public.”

Each stage of Thu Thien tower restoration is carried out meticulously and elaborately. Photo: NGOC NHUAN

Mr. Tran Van Anh, in Phuoc Quang commune (Tuy Phuoc district) - who has been involved in the restoration of Cham towers for more than 20 years, is the foreman in charge of the team of workers restoring Thu Thien tower - said: "The bricks used to restore Thu Thien tower must be specially produced, the maturity of the restored bricks is similar to the original tower bricks. The bricks brought back must be soaked in water, then polished first so that the workers can use them to restore the tower's architecture. The team of workers participating in the restoration of Thu Thien tower consists of 8 people, all of whom are skilled workers with many years of experience in restoring and embellishing the Cham tower system in Binh Dinh and Quang Nam. Each stage is mostly done by hand, carried out very meticulously and carefully".

While concentrating on grinding bricks under gently running water, Mr. Vo Minh Nhut (also from Phuoc Quang commune) said: “Grinding bricks is to make the surface flat again, ensuring the right thickness and size so that when the worker puts them in, they fit each edge of the brick. During the grinding process, you have to observe the brick to apply hand force when grinding.”

Following Mr. Tran Van Anh, I climbed through the scaffolding to the top of the tower - where the workers were there doing the work of repairing the tower. Slowly moving on the scaffolding to talk to them, I realized that this work was not easy at all.

Carefully measuring every detail and installing the tiles, Mr. Le Dinh Hong, in Binh Hoa commune (Tay Son district), a worker restoring Thu Thien tower, said: “Before installing the tiles, I have to measure again, and if any tiles are not flat, I use a grinder to check them again. To bond each tile together, we do an additional step of grinding it with water, then use glue, lime and tile powder to bond the tiles together. It sounds simple, but when doing it, we have to be meticulous and careful with every little detail.”

Re-measure and check the restored parts, foreman Tran Van Anh shared: “After gluing the tiles together, I have to re-check every detail, mortar joints, and tile joints to complete it. I cannot do it hastily, but have to observe carefully, follow the design, and advice of experts, and limit the impact on the original monument.”

Along with the system of 8 clusters/14 Cham towers in Binh Dinh that have been invested in, renovated and embellished, Thu Thien tower will contribute to introducing the Champa temple architecture with its own unique features of Binh Dinh.

DOAN NGOC NHUAN

Source: https://baobinhdinh.vn/viewer.aspx?macm=18&macmp=18&mabb=342749